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Title: Travels in Syria and the Holy Land

Author: John Burckhardt

Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8884]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on August 20, 2003]

Edition: 10

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN SYRIA AND THE HOLY LAND ***




Produced by William Thierens and Ann Westfall




TRAVELS

IN

SYRIA AND THE HOLY LAND;

BY THE LATE

JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT.



PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING THE DISCOVERY OF THE INTERIOR
PARTS OF AFRICA.


[1822]




PREFACE OF THE EDITOR.

[p.i]It is hoped that little apology is necessary for the publication of
a volume of Travels in Asia, by a Society, whose sole professed object
is the promotion of discoveries in the African continent.

The Association having had the good fortune to obtain the services of a
person of Mr. Burckhardt's education and talents, resolved to spare
neither time nor expense in enabling him to acquire the language and
manners of an Arabian Musulman in such a degree of perfection, as should
render the detection of his real character in the interior of Africa
extremely difficult.

It was thought that a residence at Aleppo would afford him the most
convenient means of study, while his intercourse with the natives of
that city, together with his occasional tours in Syria, would supply him
with a view of Arabian life and manners in every degree, from the
Bedouin camp to the populous city. While thus preparing himself for the
ultimate object of his mission, he was careful to direct his journeys
through those parts of Syria which had been the least frequented by
European travellers, and thus he had the opportunity of making some
important additions to our knowledge of one of those countries of which
the geography is not less interesting by its connection with ancient
history, than it is imperfect, in consequence of the impediments which
modern barbarism has opposed to scientific researches. After consuming
near three years in Syria, Mr. Burckhardt, on his arrival in Egypt,
found himself prevented from pursuing the execution of his instructions,
by [p.ii] a suspension of the usual commercial intercourse with the
interior of Africa, and was thus, during the ensuing five years, placed
under the necessity of employing his time in Egypt and the adjacent
countries in the same manner as he had done in Syria. After the journeys
in Egypt, Nubia, Arabia, and Mount Sinai, which have been briefly
described in the Memoir prefixed to the former volume of his travels,
his death at Cairo, at the moment when he was preparing for immediate
departure to Fezzan, left the Association in possession of a large
collection of manuscripts concerning the countries visited by their
traveller in these preparatory journeys, but of nothing more than oral
information as to those to which he had been particularly sent. As his
journals in Nubia, and in the regions adjacent to the Astaboras,
although relating only to an incidental part of his mission to Africa,
were descriptive of countries coming strictly within the scope of the
African Association, these, together with all his collected information
on the interior of Africa, were selected for earliest publication. The
present volume contains his observations in Syria and Arabia Petraea; to
which has been added his tour in the Peninsula of Mount Sinai, although
the latest of all his travels in date, because it is immediately
connected, by its subject, with his journey through the adjacent
districts of the Holy Land. There still remain manuscripts sufficient to
fill two volumes; one of these will consist of his travels in Arabia,
which were confined to the Hedjaz, or Holy Land of the Musulmans, the
part least accessible to Christians; the fourth volume will contain very
copious remarks on the Arabs on the Desert, and particularly the
Wahabys.

The two principal maps annexed to the present volume have been
constructed under the continued inspection of the Editor, by Mr. John
Walker, junior, by whom they have been delineated and engraved.

[p.iii]In the course of this process, it has been found, that our
traveller's bearings by the compass are not always to be relied on.
Those which were obviously incorrect, and useless for geographical
purposes, have been omitted in the Journal; some instances of the same
kind, which did not occur to the Editor until the sheets were printed,
are noticed in the Errata, and if a few still remain, the reader is
intreated not to consider them as proofs of negligence in the formation
of the maps, which have been carefully constructed from Burckhardt's
materials, occasionally assisted and corrected by other extant
authorities. One cannot easily decide, whether the errors in our
traveller's bearings are chiefly to be attributed to the variable nature
of the instrument, or to the circumstances of haste and concealment
under which he was often obliged to take his observations, though it is
sufficiently evident that be fell into the error, not uncommon with
unexperienced travellers, of multiplying bearings to an excessive
degree, instead of verifying a smaller number, and measuring
intermediate angles with a pocket sextant. However his mistakes may have
arisen, the consequence has been, that some parts of the general map
illustrative of his journeys in Syria and the Holy Land have been
constructed less from his bearings than from his distances in time,
combined with those of other travellers, and checked by some known
points on the coast. Hence also a smaller scale has been chosen for that
map than may be formed from the same materials when a few points in the
interior are determined by celestial observations. In the mean time it
is hoped, that the present sketch will be sufficient to enable the
reader to pursue the narrative without much difficulty, especially as
the part of Syria which the traveller examined with more minuteness than
any other, the Haouran, is illustrated by a map upon a larger scale,
which has been composed from two delineations made by him in his two
journeys in that province.

[p.iv]It appears unnecessary to the Editor to enter into any lengthened
discussion in justification of the ancient names which he has inserted
in the maps; he thinks it sufficient to refer to the copious exposition
of the evidences of Sacred Geography contained in the celebrated work of
Reland. Much is still wanting to complete this most interesting
geographical comparison; and as a great part of the country visited by
Burckhardt has since his time been explored by a gentleman better
qualified to illustrate its antiquities by his learning; who travelled
under more favourable circumstances, and who was particuarly diligent in
collecting those most faithful of all geographical evidences, ancient
inscriptions, it may be left to Mr. W. Bankes, to illustrate more fully
the ancient geography of the Decapolis and adjoining districts, and to
remove some of the difficulties arising from the ambiguity of the
ancient authorities.

It will be found, perhaps, that our traveller is incorrect in supposing,
that the ruins at Omkeis are those of Gamala, for the situalion of
Omkeis, the strength of its position, and the extent of the ruins, all
favour the opinion that it was Gadara, the chief city of Peraea, the
strongest place in this part of the country, and the situation of which,
on a mountain over against Tiberias and Scythopolis, [Polyb.1.5.c.71.
Joseph.de Bel. Jud.l.4.c.8. Euseb. Onomast. in [Greek text]. The
distance of the ruins at Omkeis from the Hieromax and the hot baths
seems to have been Burckhardt's objection to their being the remains of
Gadara; but this distance is justified by St. Jerom, by Eusebius, and by
a writer of the 5th century. According to the two former authors the hot
baths were not at Gadara, but at a place near it called Aitham, or
Aimath, or Emmatha; and the latter correctly states the distance at five
miles. Reland Palaest. p.302, 775. Perhaps Gamala was at El Hosn;
Gaulanitis, of which Gamala was the chief town, will then correspond
very well with Djolan.] corresponds precisely with that of Omkeis. But
it will probably be admitted, that our traveller has rightly placed
several other cities, such as Scythopolis, Hippus, Abila,[There were two
cities of this name. Abil on the Western borders of the Haouran appears
to have been the Abila of Lysanias, which the Emperors Claudius and Nero
gave together with Batanaea and Trachonitis, to Herodes Agrippa. Joseph.
Ant. Jud. l.19.c.5.--sl.20.c.7.] Gerasa, Amathus;

[p.v]and he has greatly improved our knowledge of Sacred Geography, by
ascertaining many of the Hebrew sites in the once populous but now
deserted region, formerly known by the names of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and
the country of the Amorites.

The principal geographical discoveries of our traveller, are the nature
of the country between the Dead Sea and the gulf of Aelana, now Akaba;--
the extent, conformation, and detailed topography of the Haouran;--the
site of Apameia on the Orontes, one of the most important cities of
Syria under the Macedonian Greeks;--the site of Petra, which, under the
Romans, gave the name of Arabia Petraea to the surrounding territory;--
and the general structure of the peninsula of Mount Sinai; together with
many new facts in its geography, one of the most important of which is
the extent and form of the AElanitic gulf, hitherto so imperfectly known
as either to be omitted in the maps, or marked with a bifurcation at the
extremity, which is now found not to exist.

M. Seetzen, in the years 1805 and 1806, had traversed a part of the
Haouran to Mezareib and Draa, had observed the Paneium at the source of
the Jordan at Banias, had visited the ancient sites at Omkeis, Beit-er-
Ras, Abil, Djerash and Amman, and had followed the route afterwards
taken by Burckhardt through Rabbath Moab to Kerek, from whence he passed
round the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to Jerusalem. The public,
however, has never received any more than a very short account of these
journeys, taken from the correspondence of M. Seetzen with M. de Zach,
at Saxe-Gotha.[This correspondence having been communicated to the
Palestine Association, was translated and printed by that Society in the
year 1810, in a quarto of forty-seven pages.] He was quite unsuccessful
in his inquiries for Petra, and having taken the road which leads to
Mount Sinai [p.vi]from Hebron, he had no suspicion of the existence of
the long valley known by the names of El Ghor, and El Araba.

This prolongation of the valley of the Jordan, which completes a
longitudinal separation of Syria, extending for three hundred miles from
the sources of that river to the eastern branch of the Red Sea, is a
most important feature in the geography of the Holy Land,--indicating
that the Jordan once discharged itself into the Red Sea, and confirming
the truth of that great volcanic convulsion, described in the nineteenth
chapter of Genesis, which interrupted the course of the river, which
converted into a lake the fertile plain occupied by the cities of Adma,
Zeboin, Sodom and Gomorra, and which changed all the valley to the
southward of that district into a sandy desert.

The part of the valley of the Orontes, below Hamah, in which stood the
Greek cities of Larissa and Apameia, has now for the first time been
examined by a scientific traveller, and the large lake together with the
modern name of Famia, which have so long occupied a place in the maps of
Syria, may henceforth be erased.

The country of the Nabataei, of which Petra was the chief town, is well
characterized by Diodorus,[Diod. Sic.l.2,c.48.] as containing some
fruitful spots, but as being for the greater part, desert and waterless.
With equal accuracy, the combined information of Eratosthenes,
[Eratosth. ap. Strab. p.767.] Strabo,[Strabo, p.779.] and Pliny, [Plin.
Hist Nat.l.6,c.28.] describes Petra as falling in a line, drawn from the
head of the Arabian gulf (Suez) to Babylon,--as being at the distance of
three or four days from Jericho, and of four or five from Phoenicon,
which was a place now called Moyeleh, on the Nabataean coast, near the
entrance of the AElanitic gulf,--and as situated in a valley of about
two miles in length surrounded with deserts, inclosed within precipices,
and watered by a river. The latitude of 30 degrees 20 minutes
[p.vii]ascribed by Ptolemy to Petra, agrees moreover very accurately
with that which is the result of the geographical information of
Burckhardt. The vestiges of opulence, and the apparent date of the
architecture at Wady Mousa, are equally conformable with the remains of
the history of Petra, found in Strabo,[P.781.] from whom it appears that
previous to the reign of Augustus, or under the latter Ptolemies, a very
large portion of the commerce of Arabia and India passed through Petra
to the Mediterranean: and that ARMIES of camels were required to convey
the merchandise from Leuce Come, on the Red Sea,[Leuce Come, on the
coast of the Nabataei, was the place from whence AElius Gallus set out
on his unsuccessful expedition into Arabia, (Strabo, ibid.) Its exact
situation is unknown.] through Petra to Rhinocolura, now El Arish. But
among the ancient authorities regarding Petra, none are more curious
than those of Josephus, Eusebius, and Jerom, all persons well acquainted
with these countries, and who agree in proving that the sepulchre of
Aaron in Mount Hor, was near Petra.[Euseb. et Hieron. Onomast. in Greek
text]. Joseph. Ant. Jud.l.4.c.4.] For hence, it seems evident, that the
present object of Musulman devotion, under the name of the tomb of
Haroun, stands upon the same spot which has always been regarded as the
burying-place of Aaron; and there remains little doubt, therefore, that
the mountain to the west of Petra, is the Mount Hor of the Scriptures,
Mousa being, perhaps, an Arabic corruption of Mosera, where Aaron is
said to have died. [Deuter.c.x.v.6. In addition to the proofs of the
site of Petra, just stated, it is worthy of remark that the distance of
eighty-three Roman miles from Aila, or AElana, to Petra, in the Table
(called Theodosian or Peutinger,) when compared with the distance on the
map, gives a rate of about 7/10 of a Roman mile to the geographical mile
in direct distance, which is not only a correct rate, but accords very
accurately with that resulting from the other two routes leading from
Aila in the Table, namely, from Aila to Clysma, near the modern Suez,
and from Aila to Jerusalem. Szadeka, which Burckhardt visited to the
south of Wady Mousa, agrees in distance and situation as well as in name
with the Zadagasta of the Table, or Zodocatha of the Notitiae dignitatum
Imperii. See Reland Palaest. p. 230. Most of the other places mentioned
on the three roads of the Table are noticed by Ptolemy or in the
Notitiae.

And here, the Editor may be permitted to add a few words on a third
Roman route across these deserts, (having travelled the greater part of
it three times,) namely, that from Gaza to Pelusium. In the Itinerary of
Antoninus, the places, and their interjacent distances are stated as
follows, Gaza, 22 M.P. Raphia, 22 M.P. Rhinocolura, 26 M.P. Ostracine,
26 M.P. Casium, 20 M.P. Pentaschoenus, 20 M.P. Pelusium. The Theodosian
Table agrees with the Itinerary, but is defective in some of the names
and distances; Gerrhae, placed by the Table at 8 M.P. eastward of
Pelusium, is confirmed in this situation by Strabo and Ptolemy. Strabo
confirms the Itinerary in regard to Raphia, omits to notice Ostracine,
and in placing Casium at three hundred stades from Pelusium, differs not
much from the 40 M.P. of the Itinerary, or the ten schoenes indicated by
the word Pentaschoenus, midway.

The name of Rafa is still preserved near a well in the desert, at six
hours march to the southward of Gaza, where among many remains of of
ancient buildings, two erect granite columns are supposed by the natives
to mark the division between Africa and Asia. Polybius remarks
(l.5,c.80), that Raphia was the first town of Syria, coming from
Rhinocolura, which was considered an Egyptian town. Between Raphia and
the easternmost inundations of the Nile, the only two places at which
there is moisture sufficient to produce a degree of vegetation useful to
man, are El Arish and Katieh. The whole tract between these places,
except where it has been encroached upon by moving sands, is a plain
strongly impregnated with salt, terminatig towards the sea in a lagoon
or irruption of the sea anciently called Sirbonis. As the name of
Katieh, and its distance from Tineh or Pelusium, leave no doubt of its
being the ancient Casium, the only remaining question is, whether El
Arish is Rhinocolura, or Ostracine? A commentary of St. Jerom, on the
nineteenth chapter of Isaiah, v.18, suggests the possibility that the
modern name El Arish may be a corruption of the Hebrew Ares, which, as
Jerom observes, means [Greek text], and alludes to Ostracine. Jerom was
well acquainted with this country; but as the translators of Isaiah have
supposed the word not to have been Ares, and as Jerom does not state
that Ares was a name used in his time, the conjecture is not of much
weight. It is impossible to reconcile the want of water so severely felt
at Ostracine (Joseph. de Bel. Jud. l.4, ad fin. Plutarch, in M. Anton.
Gregor. Naz. ep. 46.), with El Arish, where there are occasional
torrents, and seldom any scarcity of well water, either there or at
Messudieh, two hours westward. Ostracine, therefore, was probably near
the [Greek text] of the lagoon Sirbonis, about mid-way between El Arish
and Katieh, on the bank described by Strabo (p. 760), which separates
the Sirbonis from the sea. This maritime position of Ostracine is
confirmed by the march of Titus, (Joseph. ibid.) Leaving the limits of
the Pelusiac territory, he moved across the desert on the first day, not
to the modern Katieh, but to the temple of Jupiter, at Mount Casium, on
the sea shore, at the Cape now called Ras Kasaroun; on the second day to
Ostracine; on the third to Rhinocolura; on the fourth to Raphia; on the
fifth to Gaza. It will be seen by the map that these positions, as now
settled, furnished exactly five convenient marches, the two longest
being naturally through the desert of total privation, which lies
between El Arish and Katieh. As the modern route, instead of following
the sea shore, passes to the southward of the lagoon, the site of
Ostracine has not yet been explored.

[p.viii]It would seem, from the evidence regarding Petra which may be
collected in ancient history, that neither in the ages prior to the
[p.ix]commercial opulence of the Nabataei, nor after they were deprived
of it, was Wady Mousa the position of their principal town.

When the Macedonian Greeks first became acquainted with this part of
Syria by means of the expedition which Antigonus sent against the
Nabataei, under the command of his son Demetrius, we are informed by
Diodorus that these Arabs placed their old men, women, and children upon
a certain rock [Greek text], steep, unfortified by walls, admitting only
of one access to the summit, and situated 300 stades beyond the lake
Asphaltitis. [Diod. Sic. l.19.c.95, 98.] As this interval agrees with
that of Kerek from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and is not
above half the distance of Wady Mousa from the same point; and as the
other parts of the description are well adapted to Kerek, while they are
inapplicable to Wady Mousa, we can hardly doubt that Kerek was at that
time the fortress of the Nabataei; and that during the first ages of the
intercourse of that people with the Greeks, it was known to the latter
by the name Petra, so often applied by them to barbarian hill-posts.

When the effects of commerce required a situation better suited than
Kerek to the collected population and increased opulence of the
Nabataei, the appellation of Petra was transferred to the new city at
Wady Mousa, which place had before been known to the [p.x]Greeks by the
name of Arce [Greek text], a corruption perhaps of the Hebrew
Rekem.[Joseph. Antiq. Jud. l.4,c.4.] To Wady Mousa, although of a very
different aspect from Kerek, the name Petra was equally well adapted;
and Kerek then became distinguished among the Greeks by its indigenous
name, in the Greek form of Charax, to which the Romans added that of
Omanorum, or Kerek of Ammon,[Plin. Hist. Nat. l.6,c.28.] to distinguish
it from another Kerek, now called Kerek el Shobak. The former Kerek was
afterwards restored by the Christians to the Jewish division of Moab, to
which, being south of the river Arnon, it strictly belonged, and it was
then called in Greek Charagmoba, under which name we find it mentioned
as one of the cities and episcopal dioceses of the third
Palestine.[Hierocl. Synecd. Notit. Episc. Graec.]

When the stream of commerce which had enriched the Nabataei had partly
reverted to its old Egyptian channel, and had partly taken the new
course, which created a Palmyra in the midst of a country still more
destitute of the commonest gifts of nature, then Arabia Petraea,[A
comparison of the architecture at Wady Mousa, and at Tedmour,
strengthens the opinion, that Palmyra flourished at a period later than
Petra.] Wady Mousa was gradually depopulated. Its river, however, and
the intricate recesses of its rocky valleys, still attract and give
security to a tribe of Arabs; but the place being defensible only by
considerable numbers, and being situated in a less fertile country than
Kerek, was less adapted to be the chief town of the Nabataei, when they
had returned to their natural state of divided wanderers or small
agricultural communities. The Greek bishopricks of the third Palestine
were obliterated by the Musulman conquest, with the sole exception of
the metropolitan Petra, whose titular bishop still resides at Jerusalem,
and occasionally visits Kerek, as being the only place in his province
which contains [p.xi]a Christian community. Hence Kerek has been
considered the see of the bishoprick of Petra, and hence has arisen the
erroneous opinion often adopted by travellers from the Christians of
Jerusalem, that Kerek is the site of the ancient capital of Arabia
Petraea.

The Haouran being only once mentioned in the Sacred Writings, [Ezekiel.
c. xlvii v. 16. ] was probably of inconsiderable extent under the Jews,
but enlarged its boundaries under the Greeks and Romans, by whom it was
called Auranitis. It has been still farther increased since that time,
and now includes not only Auranitis, but Ituraea also, or Ittur, of
which Djedour is perhaps a corruption; together with the greater part of
Basan, or Batanaea, and Trachonitis. Burckhardt seems not to have been
aware of the important comment upon Trachonitis afforded by his
description of the singular rocky wilderness of the Ledja, and by the
inscriptions which he copied at Missema, in that district.[See p. 117,
118.] It appears from these inscriptions, that Missema was anciently the
town of the Phaenesii, and the metrocomia or chief place of Trachon, the
descriptions of which district by Strabo and Josephus,[Strabo, 755, 756.
Joseph. Antiq. Jud. l.15,c.13.] are in exact conformity with that which
Burckhardt has given us of the Ledja.

From Strabo and Ptolemy,[Strabo, ibid. Ptolemy, l.5,c.15.] we learn that
Trachonitis comprehended all the uneven country extending along the
eastern side of the plain of Haouran, from near Damascus to Boszra. It
was in consequence of the predatory incursions of the Arabs from the
secure recesses of the Ledja into the neighbouring plains, that Augustus
transferred the government of Trachonitis from Zenodorus, who was
accused of encouraging them, to Herod, king of Judaea. [Joseph. Antiq.
Jud.l.5,c.10. De Bell. Jud.l.1,c.20.] The two Trachones, into which
Trachonitis was divided, agree with the two natural divisions of the
Ledja and Djebel Haouran.

[p.xii]Oerman, an ancient ruin at the foot of the Djebel Haouran, to the
east of Boszra, appears from an inscription copied there by Burckhardt,
to be the site of Philippopolis, a town founded by Philip, emperor of
Rome, who was a native of Boszra.

Another ancient name is found at Hebran, in the same mountains, to the
N.E. of Boszra, where an inscription records the gratitude of the tribe
of AEedeni to a Roman veteran. The Kelb Haouran, or summit of the Djebel
Haouran, appears to be the Mount Alsadamum of Ptolemy.[Ptolem.l.5,c.15.]

Of the ancient towns just mentioned, Philippopolis alone is noticed in
ancient history; and although the name of Phaeno occurs as a bishoprick
of Palestine, and that the adjective Phaenesius is applied to some mines
at that place [Greek text], it seems evident that these Phaenesii were
different from those of Trachon, and that they occupied a part of
Idumaea, between Petra and the southern extremity of the Dead
Sea.[Reland. Palaest. 1.3, voce Phaeno.]

Mezareib, a village and castle on the Hadj route, appears to be the site
of Astaroth, the residence of Og, king of Bashan; [Deuter. c.l.v.4.
Josh. c.ix.v.10.] for Eusebius [Euseb. Onomast. in [Greek text].] places
Astaroth at 6 miles from Adraa (or Edrei, now Draa,) between that place
and Abila (now Abil), and at 25 miles from Bostra, a distance very
nearly confirmed by the Theodosian Table, which gives 24 Roman miles
between those two places. It will be seen by the map, that the position
of Mezareib conforms to all these particulars. The unfailing pool of the
clearest water, which now attracts the men and cattle of all the
surrounding country to Mezareib in summer, must have made it a place of
importance in ancient times, and therefore excited the wonder of our
traveller at its having preserved only some very scanty relics of
antiquity.

Although Mount Sinai, and the deserts lying between that peninsula
[p.xiii]and Judaea, have not, like the latter country, preserved many of
the names of Holy Scripture, the new information of Burckhardt contains
many facts in regard to their geography and natural history, which may
be useful in tracing the progress of the Israelites from Egypt into
Syria.

The bitter well of Howara, 15 hours southward of Ayoun Mousa,
corresponds as well in situation as in the quality of its water, with
the well of Marah, at which the Israelites arrived after passing through
a desert of three days from the place near Suez where they had crossed
the Red Sea.[Exodus, c.xiv. xv. Numbers. c.xxxiii.]

The Wady Gharendel, two hours beyond Howara, where are wells among date
trees, seems evidently to be the station named Elim, which was next to
Marah, and at which the Israelites found "twelve wells of water, and
threescore and ten palm trees." [Exodus, c.xv. Numbers, c.xxxiii.] And
it is remarkable, that the Wady el Sheikh, and the upper part of the
Wady Feiran, the only places in the peninsula where manna is gathered
from below the tamarisk trees, accord exactly with that part of the
desert of Sin, in which Moses first gave his followers the sweet
substance gathered in the morning, which was to serve them for bread
during their long wandering;[Exodus, c.xvi.] for the route through Wady
Taybe, Wady Feiran, and Wady el Sheikh, is the only open and easy
passage to Mount Sinai from Wady Gharendel; and it requires the
traveller to pass for some distance along the sea shore after leaving
Gharendel, as we are informed that the Israelites actually did, on
leaving Elim.[Numbers, c.xxxiii.v.10, 11.]

The upper region of Sinai, which forms an irregular circle of 30 or 40
miles in diameter, possessing numerous sources of water, a temperate
climate, and a soil capable of supporting animal and vegetable nature,
was the part of the peninsula best adapted to [p.xiv]the residence of
near a year, during which the Israelites were numbered and received
their laws.

About the beginning of May, in the fourteenth month from the time of
their departure from Egypt, the children of Israel quitted the vicinity
of Mount Horeb, and under the guidance of Hohab, the Midianite, brother-
in-law of Moses, marched to Kadesh, a place on the frontiers of Canaan,
of Edom, and of the desert of Paran or Zin.[Numbers, c.x. et seq. and
c.33. Deuter. c.i.] Not long after their arrival, "at the time of the
'first ripe grapes,'" or about the beginning of August, spies were sent
into every part of the cultivated country, as far north as
Hamah.[Numbers, c.xiii. Deuter. c.i.] The report which they brought back
was no less favourable to the fertility of the land, than it was
discouraging by its description of the warlike spirit and preparation of
the inhabitants, and of the strength of the fortified places; and the
Israelites having in consequence refused to follow their leaders into
Canaan, were punished by that long wandering in the deserts lying
between Egypt, Judaea, and Mount Sinai, of which the sacred historian
has not left us any details, but the tradition of which is still
preserved in the name of El Tyh, annexed to the whole country; both to
the desert plains, and to the mountains lying between them and Mount
Sinai.

In the course of their residence in the neighbourhood of Kadesh, the
Israelites obtained some advantages over the neighbouring
Canaanites,[Numbers, c.xxi.] but giving up at length all hope of
penetrating by the frontier, which lies between Gaza and the Dead Sea,
they turned to the eastward, with a view of making a circuit through the
countries on the southern and eastern sides of the lake. [Numbers, c.xx,
xxi.] Here however, they found the difficulty still greater; Mount Seir
of Edom, which under the modern names of Djebal, Shera, and Hesma,
[p.xv]forms a ridge of mountains, extending from the southern extremity
of the Dead Sea to the gulf of Akaba, rises abruptly from the valleys El
Ghor and El Araba, and is traversed from west to east by a few narrow
Wadys only, among which the Ghoeyr alone furnishes an entrance that
would not be extremely difficult to a hostile force. This perhaps was
the "high way," by which Moses, aware of the difficulty of forcing a
passage, and endeavouring to obtain his object by negotiation, requested
the Edomites to let him pass, on the condition of his leaving the fields
and vineyards untouched, and of purchasing provisions and water from the
inhabitants.[Numbers, c.xx. Deuter, c.i.] But Edom "refused to give
Israel passage through his border," and "came out against him with much
people, and with a strong hand."[Numbers, c.xx.] The situation of the
Israelites therefore, was very critical. Unable to force their way in
either direction, and having enemies on three sides; (the Edomites in
front, and the Canaanites, and Amalekites on their left flank and rear,)
no alternative remained for them but to follow the valley El Araba
southwards, towards the head of the Red Sea. At Mount Hor, which rises
abruptly from that valley, "by the coast of the land of Edom,"[Numbers,
ibid.] Aaron died, and was buried in the conspicuous situation, which
tradition has preserved as the site of his tomb to the present day.
Israel then "journeyed from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to
compass the land of Edom,"[Numbers, c.xxi.] "through the way of the
plain from Elath, and from Eziongeber," until "they turned and passed by
the way of the wilderness of Moab, and arrived at the brook
Zered."[Deuter, c.ii.] It may be supposed that they crossed the ridge to
the southward of Eziongeber, about the place where Burckhardt remarked,
from the opposite coast, that the mountains were lower than to the
northward, and it [p.xvi] was in this part of their wandering that they
suffered from the serpents, of which our traveller observed the traces
of great numbers on the opposite shore of the AElanitic gulf. The
Israelites then issued into the great elevated plains which are
traversed by the Egyptian and Syrian pilgrims, on the way to Mekka,
after they have passed the two Akabas. Having entered these plains,
Moses received the divine command, "You have compassed this mountain
long enough, turn you northward."--"Ye are to pass through the coast
of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, and they
shall be afraid of you." [Deuter, c.ii.] The same people who had
successfully repelled the approach of the Israelites from the strong
western frontier, was alarmed now that they had come round upon the weak
side of the country. But Israel was ordered "not to meddle" with the
children of Esau, but "to pass through their coast" and to "buy meat and
water from them for money," in the same manner as the caravan of Mekka
is now supplied by the people of the same mountains, who meet the
pilgrims on the Hadj route. After traversing the wilderness on the
eastern side of Moab, the Israelites at length entered that country,
crossing the brook Zered in the thirty-eighth year, from their first
arrival at Kadesh Barnea, "when all the generation of the men of war
were wasted out from among the host."[Deuter, c.ii.] After passing
through the centre of Moab, they crossed the Arnon, entered Ammon, and
were at length permitted to begin the overthrow of the possessors of the
promised land, by the destruction of Sihon the Amorite, who dwelt at
Heshbon.[Numbers, c.xxi. Deuter, c.ii.] The preservation of the latter
name, and of those of Diban, Medaba, Aroer, Amman, together with the
other geographical facts derived from the journey of Burckhardt through
the countries beyond the Dead Sea, furnishes a most satisfactory
illustration of the sacred historians.

[p.xvii]It remains for the Editor only to add, that while correcting the
foreign idiom of his Author, and making numerous alterations in the
structure of the language, he has been as careful as posible not to
injure the originality of the composition, stamped as it is with the
simplicity, good sense, and candour, inseparable from the Author's
character. In the Editor's wish, however, to preserve this originality,
he cannot flatter himself that incorrect expressions may not sometimes
have been left. In regard to the Greek inscriptions, he thinks it
necessary only to remark, that although the propriety of furnishing the
reader with fac-similes of all such interesting relicts of ancient
history cannot in general be doubted, yet in the present instance, the
trouble and expense which it would have occasioned, would hardly have
been compensated by the importance of the monuments themselves, or by
the degree of correctness with which they were copied by the traveller.
They have therefore been printed in a type nearly resembling the Greek
characters which were in use at the date of the inscriptions, and the
Editor has taken the liberty of separating the words, and of supplying
in the small cursive Greek character, the defective parts of the
traveller's copies.

The Editor takes this opportunity of stating, that in consequence of
some discoveries in African geography, which have been made known since
the publication of Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia, he has made some
alterations in the maps of the second edition of that work. The
observations of Captain Lyon have proved Morzouk to be situated a degree
and a half to the southward of the position formerly assigned to it, and
his enquiries having at the same time confirmed the bearing and distance
between Morzouk and Bornou, as reported by former travellers, a
corresponding change will follow in the latitude of Bornou, as well as
in the [p.xviii]position of the places on the route leading to those two
cities from the countries of the Nile.

A journey into Nubia, by the Earl of Belmore, and his brother, the Hon.
Capt. Corry, has furnished some latitudes and longitudes, serving to
correct the map of "the course of the Nile, from Assouan to the confines
of Dongola", which the Editor constructed from the journals of
Burckhardt, without the assistance of any celestial observatians. The
error in the map as to the most distant point observed by Lord Belmore
is however so small, that it has not been thought necessary to make any
alteration in that map for the second edition of Burckhardt's Journey in
Nubia; but the whole delineation of this part of the Nile will be
corrected from the recent observations, in a new edition of the
Supplement to the Editor's general Map of Egypt.

Since the Journey of Lord Belmore, Mr. Waddington and Mr. Hanbury,
taking advantage of an expedition sent into AEthiopia by the Viceroy of
Egypt, have prolonged the examination of the Nile four hundred miles
beyond the extreme point reached by Burckhardt; and some French
gentlemen have continued to follow the army as far as Sennaar. The
presence of a Turkish army in that country will probably furnish greater
facilities for exploring the Bahr el Abiad, or western branch of the
Nile, than have ever before been presented to travellers; there is
reason to hope, that the opportunity will not be neglected, and thus a
survey of this celebrated river from its sources to the Mediterranean,
may, perhaps, at length be made, if not for the first time, for the
first time at least since the extinction of Egyptian science.

The expedition of the Pasha of Egypt has already produced some important
additions to African geography. By permission of Mr. Waddington, the
Editor has corrected, from that gentleman's delineation, the parts of
the Nile above Mahass, for the second [p.xix] edition of Burckhardt's
Nubia, and from the information transmitted to England by Mr. Salt, he
has been enabled to insert in the same map, the position of the ruins of
an ancient city situated about 20 miles to the north-eastward of Shendy.

These ruins had already been partially seen by Bruce and Burckhardt,
[Burckhardt passed through the vestiges of what seems to have been a
dependency of this city on the Nile, at seven hours to the north of
Shendy, and two hours to the south of Djebail; the latter name, which is
applied by Burckhardt to a large village on a range of hills, is
evidently the same as the Mount Gibbainy, where Bruce observed the same
ruins, which have now been more completely explored by M. Cailliaud. See
Travels in Nubia, p.275. Bruce's Travels, Vol. iv. p.538, 4to.] and
there can be little doubt that Bruce was right in supposing them to be
the remains of Meroe, the capital of the great peninsula of the same
name, of which the general geography appears to have been known with
considerable accuracy to men of science in the Augustan age, although it
had not been visited by any of the writers whose works have reached us.
For, assuming [To illustrate the following observations, as well as some
of the preceding, a small drawing of the course of the Nile is inserted
in the margin of the map of Syria which accompanies the present volume.]
these ruins to mark the site of the city Meroe, and that the latitude
and longitude of Shendy have been accurately determined by Bruce, whose
instruments were good, and whose competency to the task of observation
is undoubted, it will be found that Ptolemy is very nearly right in
ascribing the latitude of 16.26 to the city Meroe.[Ptolem. l.4,c.8.]
Pliny [Plin. Hist. Nat. l.2,c.73.] is equally correct in stating that
the two points of the ecliptic, in which the sun is in the zenith at
Meroe, are the 18th degree of Taurus, and the 14th degree of Leo. The
5000 stades which Strabo[Strabo, p. 113.] and Pliny [Plin. ibid.] We
learn from another passage in Pliny, (l.6,c.29,) that the persons sent by
Nero to explore the Nile, measured 884 miles, "by the river", from Syene
to Meroe.] assert to be the distance between Meroe and Syene is correct,
at a rate of between 11 and 12 [p.xx]stades to the geographical mile; if
the line be taken in direct distance, as evidently appears to have been
the intention of Strabo, by his thrice stating (upon the authority of
Eratosthenes,) that the distance from Meroe to Alexandria was 10,000
stades.[Eratosth. ap. strab. p. 62. Strabo, p. 113, 825.] The latitudes
of Ptolemy equally accord in shewing the equidistance of Syene from
Meroe and from Alexandria; the latitude of Syene being stated by him at
23-50,[Ptolem. l.4,c.6.] and that of Alexandria at 31-0. [Ptolem. ibid.]
The description of the island of Meroe as being 3000 stades long, and
1000 broad, in form like a shield, and as formed by the confluence of
the Astasobas, Astapus, and Astaboras,[Eratosth. ap. Strab. p.786.
Strab. p.821. Diodor. Sic. l.l,c.33. Heliodor. AEthiop. l.10,c.5] is
perfectly applicable to the great peninsula watered on the east by the
Tacazze, and on the west by the Bahr el Abiad, after receiving the Bahr
el Azrek. The position of the city Meroe is shewn by Artemidorus,
Ptolemy, and Pliny,[Artemid. ap. Strab. p.771. Ptolem. l.4,c.8. Plin.
Hist. Nat. l.6,c.29.] to have been, like the ruins near Shendy, near the
northern angle of the island, or the confluence of the rivers. The
island between Djebail and Shendy which Bruce calls Kurgos, answers to
that which Pliny describes as the port of Meroe; and finally, the
distance of "15 days to a good walker," which Artemidorus [Artemid.
ibid.] places between Meroe and the sea, giving a rate of about 16
English miles a-day, in direct distance, is a correct statement of the
actual distance between the ruins near Shendy and Souakin. [It is fair
to remark, that there are two authorities which tend to place the city
of Meroe 30 or 40 miles to the southward of the ruins near Shendy.
Eratosthenes states it to have been at 700 stades, and Pliny at 70 miles
above the confluence. But it is rare indeed to find a coincidence of
many ancient authorities in a question where numbers are concerned,
unless one author has borrowed from another, which is probably the case
in regard to the two just quoted.]

[p.xxi]It will hardly be contested, that the modern name of Merawe,
which is found attached to a town near the ruins of an ancient city,
discovered by Messrs. Waddington and Hanbury in the country of the
Sheygya, is sufficient to overthrow the strong evidence just stated. It
may rather be inferred, that the Greek Meroe was formed from a word
signifying "city" in the ancient AEthiopic language, which has continued
up to the present time, to be attached to the site of one of the chief
cities on the banks of the Nile,--thus resembling in its origin many
names of places in various countries, which from simple nouns expressive
in the original language of objects or their qualities, such as city,
mountain, river, sacred, white, blue, black, have been converted by
foreigners into proper names.

The ruins near Merawe seem to those of Napata, the chief town of the
country intermediate between Meroe and Egypt, and which was taken by the
praefect Petronius, in the reign of Augustus, when it was the capital of
Queen Candace;[Ptolem. l.4,c.7. Strabo, p.820. Plin. Hist.
Nat.l.6,c.29.] for Pliny, on the authority of the persons sent by Nero
to EXPLORE the river above Syene, states 524 Roman miles to have been
the interval between Syene and Napata, and 360 miles to have been that
between Napata and Meroe, which distances correspond more nearly than
could have been expected with the real distances between Assouan,
Merawe, and Shendy, taken along the general curve of the river, without
considering the windings in detail.[We must not, however, too
confidently pronounce on REAL distances until we possess a few more
positions fixed by astronomical observations.]

The island of Argo, from its extent, its important ruins, its fertility,
as well as from the similarity of name, seems to be the Gora, of
Juba,[Ap. Plin. ibid.] or the Gagaudes, which the explorers of Nero
reported to be situated at 133 miles below Napata.

[p.xxii]In placing Napata at the ruins near Merawe, it is necessary to
abandon the evidence of Ptolemy, whose latitude of Napata is widely
different from that of Merawe; and as we also find, that he is
considerably in error, in regard to the only point between Syene and
Meroe, hitherto ascertained, namely, the Great Cataract, which he places
37 minutes to the north of Wady Halfa, still less can we rely upon his
authority for the position of the obscurer towns.

Although the extreme northern point to which the Nile descends below
Berber, before it turns to the south, is not yet accurately determined
in latitude, nor the degree of southern latitude which the river reaches
before it finally takes the northern course, which it continues to the
Mediterranean, we cannot doubt that Eratosthenes had received a
tolerably correct account of its general course from the Egyptians,
notwithstanding his incorrectness in regard to the proportionate length
of the great turnings of the river.

"The Nile," he says "after having flowed to the north from Meroe for the
space of 2700 stades, turns to the south and southwest for 3700 stades,
entering very far into Lybia, until it arrives in the latitude of Meroe;
then making a new turn, it flows to the north for the space of 5300
stades, to the great Cataract, whence inclining a little eastward, it
traverses 1200 stades to the small Cataract of Syene, and then 5300
stades to the sea.[Ap. Strab. p.786. The only mode of reconciling these
numbers to the truth, is to suppose the three first of them to have been
taken with all the windings of the stream, the two last in a direct
line, and even then they cannot be very accurate.] The Nile receives two
rivers, which descending from certain lakes surround the great island of
Meroe. That which flows on the eastern side is called Astaboras, the
other is the Astapus, though some say it is the Astasobas," &c.

This ambiguity, it is hardly necessary to observe, was caused by the
greater magnitude of the Astasobas, or Bahr el Abiad, or White [p.xxiii]
River, which caused it to give name to the united stream after its
junction with the Astapus, or Bahr el Azrek, or Blue River; and hence
Pliny,[Plin. Hist. Nat. l.5,c.9.] in speaking of Meroe, does not say
that it was formed by the Astapus, but by the Astasobas. In fact, the
Astapus forms the boundary of the island, as it was called, on the S.W.
the Astasobas, or united stream, on the N.W.

WILLIAM MARTIN LEAKE, Acting Secretary of the African Association.

ERRATA. [Not included]




CONTENTS.

Journal of a Tour from Damascus, in the Countries of the
   Libanus and Anti-Libanus ...................................page 1

Journal of an Excursion into the Haouran, in the Autumn and
   Winter of 1810,.................................................51

Journal of a Tour from Aleppo to Damascus, through the Valley
   of the Orontes and Mount Libanus, in February and March,
   1812...........................................................121

Journal of a Tour from Damascus into the Haouran, and the
   Mountains to the E. and S.E. of the Lake of Tiberias, in the
   Months of April and May, 1812..................................211

Description of a Journey from Damascus through the Mountains
   of Arabia Petraea and Desert el Ty, to Cairo, in the Summer
   of 1812........................................................311

Journal of a Tour in the Peninsula of Mount Sinai, in the Spring
   of 1816........................................................457


APPENDIX.

No. I.   An Account of the Ryhanlu Turkmans.......................633

No. II.  On the Political Division of Syria, and the recent
   changes in the Government of Aleppo............................648

No. III. The Hadj Route from Damascus to Mekka....................656

No. IV. Description of the Route from Boszra in the Haouran,
   to Djebel Shammor..............................................662

No. V.  A Route to the Eastward of the Castle El Hasa.............665




TRAVELS
IN
SYRIA, AND THE HOLY LAND.


JOURNAL OF A TOUR FROM DAMASCUS

COUNTRIES OF THE LIBANUS, AND ANTI-LIBANUS.
September 22, 1810.--I Left Damascus at four o'clock P.M. with a small
caravan destined for Tripoli; passed Salehie, and beyond it a
Kubbe,[Kubbe, a cupola supported by columns or walls; the sepulchre of a
reputed saint.] from whence I had, near sun-set, a most beautiful view
of the city of Damascus and its surrounding country. From the Kubbe, the
road passes along the left side of the valley in which the Barrada runs,
over uneven ground, which for the greater part is barren rock. After a
ride of two hours and a quarter from Salehie, we descended to the
river's side, and passed the Djissr [Djissr--Bridge.]

WADY BARRADA

[p.2]Dumar; on the other side of which we encamped. It is a well-built
bridge, with two archies, at twenty minutes distance from the village
Dumar.

September 23.--We set off before daylight, crossing the mountains, in
one of whose Wadys[Wady--Valley.] the Barrada winds along; we crossed it
repeatedly, and after two hours arrived at the village Eldjdide
[Arabic], built on the declivity of a hill near the source of one of the
numerous rivulets that empty themselves into the Barrada. One hour and
three quarters further, we descended into the Wady Barrada, near two
villages, built on either side of the river, opposite to each other,
called Souk Barrada.[Souk (market) is an appellation often added to
villages, which have periodical markets.] The valley of the Barrada, up
to Djissr Barrada, is full of fruit trees; and where its breadth
permits, Dhourra and wheat are sown. Half an hour further, is Husseine,
a small village in the lower part of the valley. Three-quarters of an
hour, El Souk; here the Wady begins to be very narrow. A quarter of an
hour beyond, turning round a steep rock, the valley presents a very wild
and picturesque aspect. To the left, in the mountain, are six chambers
cut in the rock; said to be the work of Christians, to whom the greater
part of the ancient structures in Syria are ascribed. The river was not
fordable here; and it would have taken me at least two hours to reach,
by a circuitous route, the opposite mountains. A little way higher up is
the Djissr el Souk, at the termination of the Wady; this bridge was
built last year, as appears by an Arabic inscription on the rock near
it. From the bridge the road leads up the side of the mountain, and
enters, after half an hour's ride, upon a plain country. The river has a
pretty cascade, near which are

ZEBDENI

[p.3] the remains of a bridge. The above mentioned plain is about three-
quarters of an hour in breadth, and three hours in length; it is called
Ard Zebdeni, or the district of Zebdeni; it is watered by the Barrada,
one of whose sources is in the midst of it; and by the rivulet called
Moiet[Moye--Water.] Zebdeni [Arabic], whose source is in the mountain,
behind the village of the same name. The latter river, which empties
itself into the Barrada, has, besides the source in the Ard Zebdeni,
another of an equal size near Fidji, in a side branch of the Wady
Barrada, half an hour from the village Husseine. The fall of the river
is very rapid. We followed the plain of Zebdeni from one end to the
other: it is limited on one side by the eastern part of the Anti-
Libanus, called here Djebel Zebdeni. Its cultivable ground is waste till
near the village of Beroudj [Arabic], where I saw plantations of
mulberry trees, which seemed to be well taken care of. Half an hour from
Beroudj is the village of Zebdeni [Arabic], and between them the ruined
Khan Benduk (the bastard Khan). Zebdeni is a considerable village; its
inhabitants breed cattle, and the silk-worm, and have some dyeing
houses. I had a letter for the Sheikh of Zebdeni from a Damascene; the
Sheikh ordered me an Argile[Argile--A Persian pipe, in which the smoke
passes through water.] and a cup of coffee, but went to supper with his
household, without inviting me to join them. This being considered an
insult, I left his house and went to sup with the muleteers, with whom I
slept upon an open piece of ground before a ruined bath, in the midst of
the village. The inhabitants of Zebdeni are three-fourths Turks, and the
remainder Greek Catholics; it is a place much frequented by those
passing from Damascus to the mountain.

September 24.--Left the village before day-light and crossed the Anti-
Libanus, at the foot of which Zebdeni lies. This chain of

EL KANNE

[p.4] mountains is, by the inhabitants of the Bekaa and the Belad
[Belad--District, province.] Baalbec, called Djebel[Djebel--Mountain.]
Essharki (or the eastern mountain), in opposition to Djebel el Gharbi,
the western mountain, otherwise called Djebel Libnan (Libanus); but that
part of it which lies nearer to Zebdeni than to the great valley, is
called Djebel Zebdeni. We travelled for the greater part of the morning
upon the mountain. Its rock is primitive calcareous, of a fine grain;
upon the highest part I found a sandy slate: on the summit and on the
eastern side of this part of the Anti-Libanus there are many spots,
affording good pasturage, where a tribe of Turkmans sometimes feed their
cattle. It abounds also in short oak trees [Arabic], of which I saw none
higher than twelve or fifteen feet. Our road lay N.W. Two hours and a
half from Zebdeni we passed a spot with several wells, called Bir[Bir--
Well.] Anhaur, or Bekai. The western declivity of the mountain, towards
the district of Baalbec, is completely barren, without pasture or trees.
After five hours and three quarters riding we descended into the plain,
near the half-ruined village of El Kanne [Arabic], and passed the river
of El Kanne, whose source is at three hours distance, in the mountain.
It empties itself into the Liettani, in the plain, two hours below
Kanne. I here left the caravan and took a guide to Zahle, where I meant
to stay a few days. Our way lay W.b.N. across the plain; passed the
village El Nahrien Haoush Hale, consisting of miserable mud cottages.
The plain is almost totally uncultivated. Passed the Liettani [Arabic]
at two hours from El Kanne. Half an hour, on the other side of it, is
the village Kerak, at the foot of the Djebel Sannin; it consists of
about one hundred and fifty-houses and has some gardens in the plain,
which are watered by a branch of the Berdoun, or river of Zahle. Kerak
is entirely inhabited by Turks; it belongs to:

ZAHLE

[p.5] the dominions of the Emir of the Druses, who some years ago took
it by force from the Emir of Baalbec. On the southern side of the
village is a mosque, and adjoining to it a long building, on the eastern
side of which are the ruins of another mosque, with a Kubbe still
remaining. The long building contains, under a flat roof, the pretended
tomb of Noah [Arabic]; it consists of a tomb-stone above ten feet long,
three broad and two high, plastered all over; the direction of its
length is S.E. and N.W. The Turks visit the grave, and pretend that Noah
is really buried there. At half an hour from Kerak is the town of Zahle
[Arabic], built in an inlet of the mountain, on a steep ascent,
surrounded with Kerums (vineyards). The river Berdoun [Arabic] here
issues from a narrow valley into the plain and waters the gardens of
Zahle.

September 25th.--Took a walk through the town with Sheikh Hadj Farakh.
There are eight or nine hundred houses, which daily increase, by
fugitives from the oppressions of the Pashas of Damascus and of the
neighbouring petty tyrants. Twenty-five years ago there were only two
hundred houses at Zahle: it is now one of the principal towns in the
territory of the Emir Beshir. It has its markets, which are supplied
from Damascus and Beirout, and are visited by the neighbouring Fellahs,
and the Arabs El Naim, and El Harb, and El Faddel, part of whom pass the
winter months in the Bekaa, and exchange their butter against articles
of dress, and tents, and horse and camel furniture. The inhabitants, who
may amount to five thousand, are all Catholic Greeks, with the exception
only of four or five Turkish families. The Christians have a bishop,
five churches and a monastery, the Turks have no mosque. The town
belongs to the territory of the Druses, and is under the authority of
the Emir Beshir, but a part of it still belongs to the family of Aamara,
whose influence, formerly very

[p.6] great in the Mountain, has lately been so much circumscribed by
the Emir, that the latter is now absolute master of the town. The Emir
receives the Miri, which is commonly the double of its original
assessment (in Belad Baalbec it is the triple), and besides the Miri, he
makes occasional demands upon the town at large. They had paid him
forty-five purses a few weeks before my arrival. So far the Emir
Beshir's government resembles perfectly that of the Osmanlys in the
eastern part of Syria: but there is one great advantage which the people
enjoy under his command--an almost complete exemption from all personal
exactions, and the impartiality of justice, which is dealt out in the
same manner to the Christian and to the Turk. It is curious, that the
peace of so numerous a body should be maintained without any legal power
whatsoever. There is neither Sheikh nor governor in the town; disputes
are settled by the friends of the respective parties, or if the latter
are obstinate, the decision is referred to the tribunal of the Emir
Beshir, at Deir el Kammar. The inhabitants, though not rich, are, in
general, in independent circumstances; each family occupies one, or at
most two rooms. The houses are built of mud; the roofs are supported by
one or two wooden posts in the midst of the principal room, over which
beams of pine-wood are laid across each other; upon these are branches
of oak trees, and then the earth, which forms the flat terrace of the
house. In winter the deep snow would soon break through these feeble
roofs, did not the inhabitants take care, every morning, to remove the
snow that may have fallen during the night. The people gain their
subsistence, partly by the cultivation of their vineyards and a few
mulberry plantations, or of their fields in the Bekaa, and partly by
their shops, by the commerce in Kourdine sheep, and their manufactures.
Almost every family weaves cotton cloth, which is used as shirts by the
inhabitants and

[p.7] Arabs, and when dyed blue, as Kombazes, or gowns, by the men.
There are more than twenty dyeing houses in Zahle, in which indigo only
is employed. The Pike [The Pike is a linear measure, equal to two feet
English, when used for goods of home manufacture, and twenty-seven
inches for foreign imported commodities.] of the best of this cotton
cloth, a Pike and a half broad, costs fifty paras, (above 1s. 6d.
English). The cotton is brought from Belad Safad and Nablous. They
likewise fabricate Abbayes, or woollen mantles. There are above one
hundred horsemen in the town. In June 1810, when the Emir Beshir joined
with his corps the army of Soleiman Pasha, to depose Youssef Pasha, he
took from Zahle 400 men, armed with firelocks.

On the west side of the town, in the bottom of the Wady, lies the
monastery of Mar Elias, inhabited by a prior and twenty monks. It has
extensive grape and mulberry plantations, and on the river side a well
cultivated garden, the products of which are sold to the town's people.
The prior received me with great arrogance, because I did not stoop to
kiss his hands, a mark of respect which the ecclesiastics of this
country are accustomed to receive. The river of Zahle, or Berdoun, forms
the frontier of the Bekaa, which it separates from the territory
belonging to the Emir of Baalbec, called Belad Baalbec; so that whatever
is northward from the bridge of the Berdoun, situated in the valley, a
quarter of an hour below Zahle, belongs to Belad Baalbec; and whatever
is south-ward, to the Bekaa. Since Soleiman Pasha has governed Damascus,
the authority of the Emir Beshir has been in some measure extended over
the Bekaa, but I could not inform myself of the distinct laws by which
it had been regulated. The Pashas of Damascus, and the Emir Beshirs,
have for many years been in continual dispute about their rights over
the villages of the Bekaa.

ANDJAR

[p.8] Following up the Berdoun into the Mountain, are the villages of
Atein, Heraike, and another in the vicinity of Zahle.

September 26.--On the night of the 25th to the 26th, was the Aid
Essalib, or feast of the Cross, the approach of which was celebrated by
repeated discharges of musquets and the lighting of numerous fires,
which illuminated all the mountains around the town and the most
conspicuous parts of the town itself.

I rode to Andjar [Arabic], on the eastern side of the Bekaa, in a
direction south-east by south, two hours and a half good walking from
Zahle. I found several encampments of the Arabs Naim and Faddel in the
plain. In one hour and a quarter, passed the Liettani, near an ancient
arched bridge; it had very little water: not the sixth part of the plain
is cultivated here. The place called Andjar lies near the Anti-Libanus,
and consists of a ruined town-wall, inclosing an oblong square of half
an hour in circumference; the greater part of the wall is in ruins. It
was originally about twelve feet thick, and constructed with small
unhewn stones, loosely cemented and covered by larger square stones,
equally ill cemented. In the enclosed space are the ruins of
habitations, of which the foundations alone remain. In one of these
buildings are seen the remains of two columns of white marble, one foot
and a quarter in diameter. The whole seems to have been constructed in
modern times. Following the Mountain to the southward of these ruins,
for twenty minutes, I came to the place where the Moiet Andjar, or river
of Andjar, has its source in several springs. This river had, when I saw
it, more than triple the volume of water of the Liettani; but though it
joins the latter in the Bekaa, near Djissr Temnin, the united stream
retains the name Liettani. There are remains of ancient well-built walls
round all the springs which constitute the source of the Andjar; one of
the springs, in particular,

[p.9]which forms a small but very deep basin, has been lined to the
bottom with large stones, and the wall round it has been constructed
with large square stones, which have no traces of ever having been
cemented together. In the wall of a mill, which has been built very near
these springs, I saw a sculptured architrave. These remains appear to be
much more ancient than those of Andjar, and are perhaps coeval with the
buildings at Baalbec. I was told, by the people of the mill, that the
water of the larger spring, in summer time, stops at certain periods and
resumes its issue from under the rock, eight or ten times in a day.
Further up in the mountain, above the spring, is a large cavern where
the people sometimes collect saltpetre; but it is more abundant in a
cavern still higher in the mountain.

Following the road northward on the chain of the Anti-Libanus, half an
hour from these springs, I met with another copious spring; and a little
higher, a third; one hour further, is a fourth, which I did not visit.
Near the two former are traces of ancient walls. The waters of all these
sources join in Moiet Andjar, and they are all comprised under the
appellation of the Springs of Moiet Andjar [Arabic]. They are partly
covered with rushes, and are much frequented by water fowls, and wild
boars also resort to them in great numbers.

August 27th.--Being disappointed in my object of proceeding to Baalbec,
I passed the day in the shop of one of the petty merchants of Zahle, and
afterwards supped with him. The sales of the merchants are for the
greater part upon credit; even those to the Arabs for the most trifling
sums. The common interest of money is 30 percent.

August 28th.--Set out in the afternoon for Baalbec, with a native of
that place, who had been established with his family at Zahle, for
several years. Passed the villages of Kerak, Abla, Temnin, Beit

BAALBEC

[p.10]Shaeme, Haoush el Rafka, Tel Hezin, and arrived, after seven
hours, at Baalbec.[The following are the names of villages in Belad
Baalbec, between Baalbec and Zahle. On the Libanus, or on the declivity
near its foot; Kerak, Fursul, Nieha, Nebi Eily, Temnin foka (the upper
Temnin) Bidneil, Smustar, Hadad Tareie, Nebi Ershaedi, Kefferdein Saide,
Budei, Deir Akhmar, Deir Eliaout, Sulife, Btedai. In the plain; Abla,
Temnin tahte (the lower Temnin) Ksarnabe, Beit Shaeme, Gferdebesh,
Haoush el Rafka, Haoush el Nebi, Haoush Esseneid, Telhezin (with a
copious spring), Medjdeloun, Haoush Barada, Haoush Tel Safie, Tel
Wardin, Sergin, Ain, Ouseie, Haoush Mesreie, Bahami, Duris, Yead. On the
Anti-Libanus, or near its foot; Briteil, Tallie, Taibe, Khoreibe, El
Aoueine, Nebi Shit, Marrabun, Mouze, Kanne, Deir el Ghazal, Reia,
Hushmush. All these villages are inhabited by Turks or Metawelis; Abla
and Fursul are the only Christian villages. I subjoin the villages in
the plain to the N. of Baalbec, belonging to the territory of Baalbec.
On the Libanus; Nebba, Essafire, Harbate. On the Plain; Tunin, Shaet,
Ras el Haded, Leboue, El Kaa. Anti-Libanus, and at its foot: Nahle, El
Ain, Nebi Oteman, Fiki, Erzel, Mukra, El Ras.]

The territory of Baalbec extends, as I have before mentioned, down to
the Bekaa. On the eastern side it comprises the mountain of the Anti-
Libanus, or Djebel Essharki, up to its top; and on the western side, the
Libanus likewise, as far as its summits. In the plain it reaches as far
as El Kaa, twelve hours from Baalbec and fourteen hours from Homs, where
the Anti-Libanus terminates, and where the valley between the two
mountains widens considerably, because the Anti-Libanus there takes a
more eastern direction. This district is abundantly watered by rivulets;
almost every village has its spring, all of which descend into the
valley, where most of them lose themselves, or join the Liettani, whose
source is between Zahle and Baalbec, about two hours from the latter
place, near a hill called Tel Hushben. The earth is extremely fertile,
but is still less cultivated than in the Bekaa. Even so late as twelve
years ago, the plain, and a part of the mountain, to the distance of a
league and a half round the town, were covered with grape plantations;
the oppressions of the governors,

[p.11]and their satellites have now entirely destroyed them; and the
inhabitants of Baalbec, instead of eating their own grapes, which were
renowned for their superior flavour, are obliged to import them from
Fursul and Zahle. The government of Baalbec has been for many years in
the hands of the family of Harfush, the head family of the Metaweli of
Syria.[The Metaweli are of the sect of Ali, like the Persians; they have
more than 200 houses at Damascus, but they conform there to the rites of
the orthodox Mohammedans.] In later times, two brothers, Djahdjah and
Sultan, have disputed with each other the possession of the government;
more than fifteen individuals of their own family have perished in these
contests, and they have dispossessed each other by turns, according to
the degree of friendship or enmity which the Pashas of Damascus bore to
the one or the other. During the reign of Youssef Pasha, Sultan was
Emir; as soon as Soleiman was in possession of Damascus, Sultan was
obliged to fly, and in August, 1810, his brother Djahdjah returned to
his seat, which he had already once occupied. He pays a certain annual
sum to the Pasha, and extorts double its amount from the peasant. The
Emir Beshir has, since the reign of Soleiman Pasha, likewise acquired a
certain influence over Baalbec, and is now entitled to the yearly sum of
fifteen purses from this district. The Emir Djahdjah resides at Baalbec,
and keeps there about 200 Metaweli horsemen, whom he equips and feeds
out of his own purse. He is well remembered by several Europeans,
especially English travellers, for his rapacity, and inhospitable
behaviour.

The first object which strikes the traveller arriving from the Bekaa, is
a temple [This temple is not seen in approaching Baalbec from Damascus.]
in the plain, about half an hour's walk from the town, which has
received from the natives the appellation of Kubbet Duris. Volney has
not described this temple. It is an

[p.12]octagon building supported by eight beautiful granite columns,
which are all standing. They are of an order resembling the Doric; the
capitals project very little over the shaft, which has no base. Over
every two pillars lies one large stone, forming the architrave, over
which the cornice is still visible, very little adorned with sculpture.
The roof has fallen in. On the N.W. side, between two of the columns, is
an insulated niche, of calcareous stone, projecting somewhat beyond the
circumference of the octagon, and rising to about two feet below the
roof. The granite of the columns is particularly beautiful, the
feldspath and quartz being mixed with the hornblende in large masses.
The red feldspath predominates. One of the columns is distinguished from
the rest by its green quartz. We could not find any traces of
inscriptions.

September 29th.--I took lodgings in a small room belonging to the
catholic priest, who superintends a parish of twenty-five Christian
families. This being near the great temple, I hastened to it in the
morning, before any body was apprised of my arrival.

The work of Wood, who accompanied Dawkins to Baalbec in 1751, and the
subsequent account of the place given by Volney, who visited Baalbec in
1784, render it unnecessary for me to enter into any description of
these ruins. I shall only observe that Volney is incorrect in describing
the rock of which the buildings are constructed as granite; it is of the
primitive calcareous kind, but harder than the stone of Tedmor. There
are, however, many remains of granite columns in different parts of the
building.

I observed no Greek inscriptions; there were some few in Latin and in
Arabic; and I copied the following Cufic inscription on the side of a
stair-case, leading down into some subterranean

[p.13]chambers below the small temple, which the Emir has walled up to
prevent a search for hidden treasures. [Cufic inscription]

Having seen, a few months before, the ruins of Tedmor, a comparison
between these two renowned remains of antiquity naturally offered itself
to my mind. The entire view of the ruins of Palmyra, when seen at a
certain distance, is infinitely more striking than those of Baalbec, but
there is not any one spot in the ruins of Tedmor so imposing as the
interior view of the temple of Baalbec. The temple of the Sun at Tedmor
is upon a grander scale than that of Baalbec, but it is choked up with
Arab houses, which admit only of a view of the building in detail. The
archilecture of Baalbec is richer than that of Tedmor.

The walls of the ancient city may still be traced, and include a larger
space than the present town ever occupied, even in its most flourishing
state. Its circuit may be between three and four miles. On the E. and N.
sides the gates of the modern town, formed in the ancient wall, still
remain entire, especially the northern gate; it is a narrow arch, and
comparatively very small. I suppose it to be of Saracen origin.

[p.14] The women of Baalbec are esteemed the handsomest of the
neighbouring country, and many Damascenes marry Baalbec girls. The air
of Belad Baalbec and the Bekaa, however, is far from being healthy. The
chain of the Libanus interrupts the course of the westerly winds, which
are regular in Syria during the summer months; and the want of these
winds renders the climate extremely hot and oppressive.

September 30th.--I again visited the ruins this morning. The Emir had
been apprised of my arrival by his secretary, to whom I had a letter of
recommendation. He sent the secretary to ask whether I had any presents
for him; I answered in the negative, but delivered to him a letter,
which the Jew bankers of the Pasha of Damascus had given me for him;
these Jews being men of great influence. He contented himself with
replying that as I had no presents for him, it was not necessary that I
should pay him my respects; but he left me undisturbed in my pursuits,
which was all I wanted.

Near a well, on the S. side of the town, between the temple and the
mountain, I found upon a stone the following inscription;

          C. CASSIVS ARRIANVS
          MONVMENTVM SIBI
          -OCO SVO VIVVS
          FECIT

In the afternoon I made a tour in the invirons of Baalbec. At the foot
of the Anti-Libanus, a quarter of an hour's walk from the town, to the
south is a quarry, where the places are still visible from whence
several of the large stones in the south wall of the castle were
extracted; one large block is yet remaining, cut on three sides, ready
to be transported to the building, but it must be done by other hands
than those of the Metaweli. Two other blocks, cut in

[p.15]like manner, are standing upright at a little distance from each
other; and near them, in the rock, are two small excavated tombs, with
three niches in each, for the dead, in a style of workmanship similar to
what I saw to the north of Aleppo, in the Turkman mountains towards Deir
Samaan. In the hills, to the S.W. of the town, just behind this quarry,
are several tombs, excavated in the rock, like the former, but of larger
dimensions. In following the quarry towards the village of Duris,
numerous natural caverns are met with in the calcareous rocks; I entered
more than a dozen of them, but found no traces of art, except a few
seats or steps rudely cut out. These caverns serve at present as winter
habitations for the Arabs who pasture their cattle in this district. The
principal quarry was a full half hour to the southward of the town.

The mountains above Baalbec are quite uncultivated and barren, except at
the Ras el Ain, or sources of the river of Baalbec, where a few trees
only remain. This is a delightful place, and is famous amongst the
inhahitants of the adjoining districts for the salubrity of its air and
water. Near the Ain, are the ruins of a church and mosque.

The ruined town of Baalbec contains about seventy Metaweli families, and
twenty-five of Catholic Christians. Amidst its ruins are two handsome
mosques, and a fine bath. The Emir lives in a spacious building called
the Serai. The inhabitants fabricate white cotton cloth like that of
Zahle; they have some dyeing houses, and had, till within a few years,
some tanneries. The men are the artizans here, and not the women. The
property of the people consists chiefly of cows, of which every house
has ten or fifteen, besides goats and sheep. The goats are of a species
not common in other parts of Syria; they have very long ears, large
horns, and long hair, but not silky like that of the goats of Anatolia.

[p.16]The breed of Baalbec mules is much esteemed, and I have seen some
of them worth on the spot L30 to L35. sterling.

October 1st.--After having again visited the ruins, I engaged a man in
the forenoon, to shew me the way to the source of the rivulet called
Djoush [Arabic]. It is in a Wady in the Anti-Libanus, three quarters of
an hour distant from Baalbec. The rivulet was very small, owing to the
remarkable dryness of the season, and was lost in the Wady before it
reached the plain; at other times it flows down to Baalbec and joins the
river, which, after irrigating the gardens and fields round the town,
loses itself in the plain. A little higher in the mountain than the spot
where the water of the Djoush first issues from the spring, is a small
perpendicular hole, through which I descended, not without some danger,
about sixteen feet, into an aqueduct which conveys the water of the
Djoush underground for upwards of one hundred paces. This aqueduct is
six feet high and three feet and a half wide, vaulted above, and covered
with a thick coat of plaister; it is in perfect preservation; the water
in it was about ten inches deep. In following up this aqueduct I came to
a vaulted chamber about ten feet square, built with large hewn stones,
into which the water falls through another walled passage, but which I
did not enter, being afraid that the water falling on all sides might
extinguish the only candle that I had with me. Below this upper passage,
another dark one is visible through the water as it falls down. The
aqueduct continues beyond the hole through which I descended, as far as
the spot where the water issues from under the earth. Above ground, at a
small distance from the spring, and open towards it, is a vaulted room,
built in the rock, now half filled with stones and rubbish.

Ten or twelve years ago, at the time when the plague visited

DEIR EL AKHMAR

[p.17]these countries and the town of Baalbec, all the Christian
families quitted the town, and encamped for six weeks around these
springs.

From Djoush we crossed the northern mountain of the valley, and came to
Wady Nahle, near the village of Nahle, situated at the foot of the
mountain, and one hour and a half E.b.N. from Baalbec. There is nothing
remarkable in the village, except the ruins of an ancient building,
consisting at present of the foundations only, which are strongly built;
it appeared to me to be of the same epoch as the ruins of Baalbec. The
rivulet named Nahle rises at one hour's distance, in a narrow Wady in
the mountain. The neighbourhood of Baalbec abounds in walnut trees; the
nuts are exported to Zahle and the mountains, at two or two and a half
piastres per thousand.

In the evening we left Baalbec, and began to cross the plain in the
direction of the highest summit of Mount Libanus. We passed the village
of Yeid on the left, and a little farther on, an encampment of Turkmans.
During the winter, the territory of Baalbec is visited by a tribe of
Turkmans called Suedie, by the Hadidein Akeidat, the Arabs Abid, whose
principal seat is near Hamil, between El Kaa and Homs; and the Arabs
Harb. The Suedie Turkmans remain the whole year in this district, and in
the valleys of the Anti-Libanus. All these tribes pay tribute to the
Emir of Baalbec, at the rate of twelve or fifteen pounds of butter for
each tent, for the summer pasture. At the end of three hours march we
alighted at the village Deir el Akhmar, two hours after sunset. This
village stands just at the foot of the mountain; it was at this time
deserted, its inhabitants having quitted it a few weeks before to escape
the extortions of Djahdjah, and retired to Bshirrai. In one of the
abandoned houses we found a shepherd who tended a flock belonging to the
Emir; he treated us with some milk, and made a large fire, round which
we lay down, and slept till day-break.

MOUNT LIBANUS

[p.18]October 2d.--The tobacco of Deir el Akhmar is the finest in Syria.
There is no water in the village, but at twenty minutes from it, towards
the plain, is a copious well. After ascending the mountain for three
hours and a half, we reached the village Ainnete: thus far the mountain
is covered with low oak trees (the round-leaved, and common English
kinds), and has but few steep passages. Nearly one hour from Ainnete
begins a more level country, which divides the Upper from the Lower
Libanus. This part was once well cultivated, but the Metaweli having
driven the people to despair, the village is in consequence deserted and
in ruins. A few fields are still cultivated by the inhabitants of Deir
Eliaout and Btedai, who sow their seed in the autumn, and in the spring
return, build a few huts, and watch the growing crop. The walnut tree
abounds here.

There are three springs at Ainnete, one of which was dried up; another
falls over the rock in a pretty cascade; they unite in a Wady which runs
parallel with the upper mountain as far as the lake Liemoun, two hours
west of Ainnete; at this time the lake was nearly dry, an extraordinary
circumstance; I saw its bed a little higher up than Ainnete.

From Ainnete the ascent of the mountain is steep, and the vegetation is
scanty; though it reaches to the summit. A few oaks and shrubs grow
amongst the rocks. The road is practicable for loaded mules, and my
horse ascended without difficulty. The honey of Ainnete, and of the
whole of Libanus, is of a superior quality.

At the end of two hours and a half from Ainnete we reached the summit,
from whence I enjoyed a magnificent view over the Bekaa, the Anti-
Libanus, and Djebel Essheikh, on one side, and the sea, the sea shore
near Tripoli, and the deep valley of Kadisha on the other. We were not
quite upon the highest summit, which lay half an hour to the right.
Baalbec bore from hence S. by E,

[p.19]and the summit of Djebel Essheikh S. by W. The whole of the rock
is calcareous, and the surface towards the top is so splintered by the
action of the atmosphere, as to have the appearance of layers of slates.
Midway from Ainnete I found a small petrified shell, and on breaking a
stone which I picked up on the summit, I discovered another similar
petrifaction within it.

Having descended for two hours, we came to a small cultivated plain. On
this side, as well as on the other, the higher Libanus may be
distinguished from the lower; the former presenting on both sides a
steep barren ascent of two to two hours and a half; the latter a more
level wooded country, for the greater part fit for cultivation this
difference of surface is observable throughout the Libanus, from the
point where I crossed it, for eight hours, in a S. W. direction. The
descent terminates in one of the numerous deep valleys which run towards
the seashore.

I left my guide on the small plain, and proceeded to the right towards
the Cedars, which are visible from the top of the mountain, standing
half an hour from the direct line of the route to Bshirrai, at the foot
of the steep declivities of the higher division of the mountain. They
stand on uneven ground, and form a small wood. Of the oldest and best
looking trees, I counted eleven or twelve; twenty-five very large ones;
about fifty of middling size; and more than three hundred smaller and
young ones. The oldest trees are distinguished by having the foliage and
small branches at the

BSHIRRAI.

[p.20]top only, and by four, five, or even seven trunks springing from
one base; the branches and foliage of the others were lower, but I saw
none whose leaves touched the ground, like those in Kew Gardens. The
trunks of the old trees are covered with the names of travellers and
other persons, who have visited them: I saw a date of the seventeenth
century. The trunks of the oldest trees seem to be quite dead; the wood
is of a gray tint; I took off a piece of one of them; but it was
afterwards stolen, together with several specimens of minerals, which I
sent from Zahle to Damascus.

At an hour and a quarter from the Cedars, and considerably below them,
on the edge of a rocky descent, lies the village of Bshirrai, on the
right bank of the river Kadisha [Arabic].

October 3d.--Bshirrai consists of about one hundred and twenty houses.
Its inhabitants are all Maronites, and have seven churches. At half an
hour from the village is the Carmelite convent of Deir Serkis (St.
Sergius,) inhabited at present by a single monk, a very worthy old man,
a native of Tuscany, who has been a missionary to Egypt, India, and
Persia.

Nothing can be more striking than a comparison of the fertile but
uncultivated districts of Bekaa and Baalbec, with the rocky mountains,
in the opposite direction, where, notwithstanding that nature seems to
afford nothing for the sustenance of the inhabitants, numerous villages
flourish, and every inch of ground is cultivated. Bshirrai is surrounded
with fruit trees, mulberry plantations, vineyards, fields of Dhourra,
and other corn, though there is scarcely a natural plain twenty feet
square. The inhabitants with great industry build terraces to level the
ground and prevent the earth from being swept down by the winter rains,
and at the same time to retain the water requisite for the irrigation of
their crops. Water is very abundant, as streams from numerous springs
descend

KANOBIN.

[p.21]on every side into the Kadisha, whose source is two hours distant
from Bshirrai, in the direction of the mountain from whence I came.

Bshirrai belongs to the district of Tripoli, but is at present, with the
whole of the mountains, in the hands of the Emir Beshir, or chief of the
Druses. The inhabitants of the village rear the silk-worm, have
excellent plantations of tobacco, and a few manufactories of cotton
stuffs used by the mountaineers as shawls for girdles. Forty years ago
the village was in the hands of the Metaweli, who were driven out by the
Maronites.

In the morning I went to Kanobin; after walking for two hours and a half
over the upper plain, I descended the precipitous side of a collateral
branch of the valley Kadisha, and continued my way to the convent, which
I reached in two hours and a half. It is built on a steep precipice on
the right of the valley, at half an hour's walk from the river, and
appears as if suspended in the air, being supported by a high wall,
built against the side of the mountain. There is a spring close to it.
The church, which is excavated in the rock, and dedicated to the Virgin,
is decorated with the portraits of a great number of patriarchs. During
the winter, the peasants suspend their silk-worms in bags, to the
portrait of some favourite saint, and implore his influence for a
plenteous harvest of silk; from this custom the convent derives a
considerable income.

Kanobin is the seat of the patriarch of the Maronites, who is at the
head of twelve Maronite bishops, and here in former times he generally
passed the summer months, retiring in the winter to Mar Hanna; but the
vexations and insults which the patriarchs were exposed to from the
Metaweli, in their excursions to and from Baalbec, induced them for many
years to abandon this residence. The present patriarch is the first who
for a long time has resided in

HOSRUN.

[p.22]Kanobin. Though I had no letter of introduction to him, and was in
the dress of a peasant, he invited me to dinner, and I met at his table
his secretary, Bishop Stefano, who has been educated at Rome, and has
some notions of Europe. While I was there, a rude peasant was ordained a
priest. Kanobin had once a considerable library; but it has been
gradually dispersed; and not a vestige of it now remains. The cells of
the monks are, for the most part, in ruins.

Three hours distant from Kanobin, at the convent Kashheya, which is near
the village Ehden, is a printing office, where prayer-books in the
Syriac language are printed. This language is known and spoken by many
Maronites, and in this district the greater part of them write Arabic in
the Syriac characters. The names of the owners of the silk-worms were
all written in this character in different hands, upon the bags
suspended in the church.

I returned to Bshirrai by an easier road than that which I had travelled
in the morning; at the end of three quarters of an hour I regained the
upper plain, from whence I proceeded for two hours by a gentle ascent,
through fields and orchards, up to the village. The potatoe succeeds
here very well; a crop was growing in the garden of the Carmelite
convent; it has also been cultivated for some time past in Kesrouan. In
the mountains about Kanobin tigers are said to be frequently met with; I
suppose ounces are meant.

October 4th.--I departed from Bshirrai with the intention of returning
to Zahle over the higher range of the Libanus. We crossed the Kadisha,
at a short distance from Bishirrai, above the place where it falls over
the precipice: at one hour distant from Bshirrai, and opposite to it, we
passed the village of Hosrun. The same cultivation prevails here as in
the vicinity of Bshirrai; mulberry and

ARD LAKLOUK.

walnut [p.23]trees, and vines, are the chief productions. From Hosrun we
continued our way along the foot of the highest barren part of Libanus.
About two hours from its summit, the mountain affords pasturage, and is
capable of cultivation, from the numerous springs which are everywhere
met with. During the greater part of this day's journey I had a fine
view of the sea shore between Tartous and Tripoli, and from thence
downwards towards Jebail.

At three hours and a half from Hosrun, still following the foot of the
upper chain of the Libanus, we entered the district of Tanurin (Ard
Tanurin), so called from a village situated below in a valley. The spots
in the mountain, proper for cultivation, are sown by the inhabitants of
Tanurin; such as afford pasture only are visited by the Arabs El Haib. I
was astonished at seeing so high in the mountain, numerous camels and
Arab huts. These Arabs pass the winter months on the sea shore about
Tripoli, Jebail, and Tartous. Though like the Bedouins, they have no
fixed habitations, their features are not of the true Bedouin cast, and
their dialect, though different from that of the peasants, is not a pure
Bedouin dialect. They are tributary to the Turkish governors, and at
peace with all the country people; but they have the character of having
a great propensity to thieving. Their property, besides camels, consists
in horses, cows, sheep, and goats. Their chief is Khuder el Aissy
[Arabic].

On leaving the district of Tanurin, I entered Ard Laklouk [Arabic],
which I cannot describe better, than by comparing it to one of the
pasturages in the Alps. It is covered with grass, and its numerous
springs, together with the heavy dews which fall during the summer
months, have produced a verdure of a deeper tint than any I saw in the
other parts of Syria which I visited. The Arabs El Haib come up hither
also, and wander about the district for five months in the year; some of
them even remain here the whole

AKOURA.

[p.24]year; except that in winter they descend from the pastures, and
pitch their tents round the villages of Tanurin and Akoura, which are
situated in a valley, sheltered on every side by the perpendicular sides
of the Upper Libanus. At Tanurin and Laklouk the winter corn was already
above ground. The people water the fields for three or four days before
they sow the seed.

Akoura has a bad name amongst the people of this country; its
inhabitants, who are all Greek Catholics, are accused of avarice, and
inhospitality. The mountaineers, when upon a journey, never think of
spending a para, for their eating, drinking, or lodging. On arriving in
the evening at a village, they alight at the house of some acquaintance,
if they have any, which is generally the case, and say to the owner, "I
am your guest," Djay deyfak [Arabic]. The host gives the traveller a
supper, consisting of milk, bread, and Borgul, and if rich and liberal,
feeds his mule or mare also. When the traveller has no acquaintance in
the village, he alights at any house he pleases, ties up his beast, and
smokes his pipe till he receives a welcome from the master of the house,
who makes it a point of honour to receive him as a friend, and to give
him a supper. In the morning he departs with a simple "Good bye." Such
is the general custom in these parts; the inhabitants of Akoura,
however, are noted for refusing to receive travellers, to whom they will
neither give a supper, nor sell them provision for ready money; the
consequence of which conduct is, that the Akourans, when travelling
about, are obliged to conceal their origin, in order to obtain food on
the road. My guide had a friend at Akoura, but he happened to be absent;
we therefore alighted at another house, where we obtained with much
difficulty a little barley for our horses; and we should have gone
supperless to rest, had I not repaired to the Sheikh, and made him
believe I was a Kourdine (my dress being somewhat like that of the
Kourds) in the service of the

[p.25] Pasha of Damascus, on my way to the Emir Beshir. As I spoke with
confidence, the Sheikh became alarmed, and sent us a few loaves of
bread, and some cheese; on my return, I found my guide in the midst of a
large assembly of people, abusing them for their meanness.

The property of the inhabitants of this village consists of cows and
other cattle, silkworms, and plantations of olive trees.

At Akoura Djebel Libnan terminates; and farther down towards Zahle and
the Bekaa, the mountain is called Djebel Sannin [Arabic]. The Libanus is
here more barren and wild than further to the north. The rocks are all
in perfectly horizontal layers, some of which are thirty to forty yards
in thickness, while others are only a few yards.

October 5th.--We left the inhospitable Akoura before day light, and
reached, after one hour and three quarters, a village called Afka,
situated in the bottom of a valley, near a spring, whose waters join
those of Wady Akoura, and flow down towards Jebail.

The name Afka is found in the ancient geography of Syria. At Aphaca,
according to Zosimus, was a temple of Venus, where the handsomest girls
of Syria sacrificed to the goddess: it was situated near a small lake,
between Heliopolis and the sea coast. [Zosim. l.i.c.58.] The lake
Liemoun is at three hours distance from Afka. I could not hear of any
remains of antiquity near Afka. All the inhabitants are Metaweli, under
the government of Jebail. Near it, towards Jebail, are the Metaweli
villages of Mghaiere, Meneitere, and Laese.

From Afka the road leads up a steep Wady. At half an hour from it is the
spring called Ain Bahr; three quarters of an hour beyond it is a high
level country, still on the western side of the summit of the mountain.
This district is called Watty el Bordj

WATTY EL BORDJ.

[p.26] [Arabic], from a small ruined tower. It is three or four hours in
length, and two in breadth. In the spring the Arabs Abid, Turkmans, and
Kourdines, here pasture their cattle. These Kourdines bring annually
into Syria from twenty to thirty thousand sheep, from the mountains of
Kourdistan; the greater part of which are consumed by Aleppo, Damascus,
and the mountains, as Syria does not produce a sufficient number for its
inhabitants. The Kourd sheep are larger than those of Syria, but their
flesh is less esteemed. The Kourd sheep-dealers first visit with their
flocks Aleppo, then Hama, Homs, and Baalbec; and what they do not sell
on the road, they bring to pasture at Watty el Bordj, whither the people
of Zahle, Deir el Kammar, and other towns in the mountains repair, and
buy up thousands of them, which they afterwards sell in retail to the
peasants of the mountains.

They buy them for ready money at twenty to thirty piastres a head, and
sell them two months afterwards at thirty to forty. The mountaineers of
the Druse and Maronite districts breed very few sheep, and very seldom
eat animal food. On the approach of their respective great festivals,
(Christmas with the Maronites, and Ramadan with the Druses) each head of
a family kills one or two sheep; during the rest of the year, he feeds
his people on Borgul, with occasionally some old cow's, or goat's flesh.
It is only in the largest of the mountain towns of the Druses and
Maronites that flesh is brought daily to market.

There are no springs or water in the Watty el Bordj; but the melting of
the snow in the spring affords drink for men and cattle, and snow water
is often found during the greater part of the summer in some funnel-
shaped holes formed in the ground by the snow. At the time I passed no
water was any where to be found. In many places the snow remains
throughout the year; but this year none was left, not even on the
summits of the mountain, [p.27] except in a few spots on the northern
declivity of the Libanus towards the district of Akkar. Watty el Bordj
affords excellent pasturage; in many spots it is overgrown with trees,
mostly oaks, and the barbery is also very frequent. We started
partridges at every step. Our route lay generally S.W. by S.

Four hours from Ain Bahr, we entered the mountain, a part of which is
considered to belong to Kesrouan. It is completely stony and rocky, and
I found some calcareous spath. I shall here remark that the whole of the
mountain from Zahle to Belad Akkar is by the country people comprehended
under the general name of Djurd Baalbec, Djurd meaning, in the northern
Arabic dialect, a rocky mountain.

Crossing this part of the mountain Sannin for two hours, we came to a
spring called Ain Naena, from whence another road leads down north-
eastwards, into the territory of Baalbec. This route is much frequented
by the people of Kesrouan, who bring this way the iron ore of Shouair,
to the Mesbek or smelting furnaces at Nebae el Mauradj, two hours from
hence to the north-east, Shouair, which is at least ten hours distance,
affording no fuel for smelting. The iron ore is carried upon mules and
asses, one day's journey and a half to the Mesbek, where the mountain
abounds in oak. From Aine Naena we gradually descended, and in three
hours reached Zahle.

October 6th.--At Zahle I found the Catholic bishop, who was absent on
his episcopal tour during my first visit to this place. He is
distinguished from his countrymen by the politeness of his manners, the
liberality of his sentiments, his general information, and his desire of
knowledge, though at a very advanced age. I had letters for him; and he
recommended himself particularly to me by being the friend of Mr.
Browne, the African traveller, who had lived with him a fortnight, and
had visited

ZAHLE.

[p.28] Baalbec in his company. His diocese comprises the whole Christian
community in the Bekaa, and the adjoining villages of the mountain. He
is, with five other bishops, under the orders of the Patriarch at
Mekhalis, and there are, besides, seven monasteries under this diocese
in Syria. The Bishop's revenue arises from a yearly personal tax of half
a piastre upon all the male adults in his diocese. He lives in a truly
patriarchal manner, dressing in a simple black gown, and black Abbaye,
and carries in his hand a long oaken stick, as an episcopal staff. He is
adored by his parishioners, though they reproach him with a want of
fervour in his intercourse with other Christian sects; by which they
mean fanatism, which is a striking feature in the character of the
Christians not only of the mountain, but also of the principal Syrian
towns, and of the open country. This bigotry is not directed so much
against the Mohammedans, as against their Christian brethren, whose
creed at all differs from their own.

It need hardly be mentioned here, that many of those sects which tore
Europe to pieces in the earlier ages of Christianity, still exist in
these countries: Greeks, Catholics, Maronites, Syriacs, Chaldeans, and
Jacobites, all have their respective parishes and churches. Unable to
effect any thing against the religion of their haughty rulers the Turks,
they turn the only weapons they possess, scandal and intrigue, with fury
against each other, and each sect is mad enough to believe that its
church would flourish on the ruins of those of their heretic brethren.
The principal hatred subsists between the Catholics and the Greeks; of
the latter, many thousands have been converted to Catholicism, so that
in the northern parts of Syria all Catholics, the Maronites excepted,
were formerly of the Greek church: this is the case in Aleppo, Damascus,
and in all the intermediate country; communities of original Latin
Christians being found only around Jerusalem and Nablous. The Greeks

HEUSN NIEHA.

[p.29] of course see with indignation the proselytism of their brethren,
which is daily gaining ground, and avenge themselves upon the apostates
with the most furious hatred. Nor are the Greek and original Latin
Christians backward in cherishing similar feelings; and scenes most
disgraceful to Christianity are frequently the consequence. In those
parts where no Greeks live, as in the mountains of Libanus, the
different sects of Catholics turn their hatred against each other, and
the Maronites fight with the converted Greek Catholics, or the Latins,
as they do at Aleppo with the followers of the Greek church. This system
of intolerance, at which the Turkish governors smile, because they are
constantly gainers by it, is carried so far that, in many places, the
passing Catholic is obliged to practise the Greek rites, in order to
escape the effects of the fanatism of the inhabitants. On my way from
Zahle to Banias, we stopped one night at Hasbeya and another at Rasheya
el Fukhar; at both of which places my guide went to the Greek church,
and prayed according to its forms; in passing through Zahle, as he
informed me, the Greeks found it equally necessary to conform with the
rites of the Latin Catholics. The intrigues carried on at Jerusalem
between the Greek and Latin monks contribute to increase these diputes,
which would have long ago led to a Christian civil war in these
countries, did not the iron rod of the Turkish government repress their
religious fury.

The vineyards are estimated at the exact number of vines they contain,
and each vine, if of good quality, is worth one piastre. The Miri or
land tax of every hundred [Arabic] vines is ten paras. For many years
past a double Miri has been levied upon Zahle.

October 7th.--Remained at Zahle, and enjoyed the instructive
conversation of the Bishop Basilios.

October 8th.--I went to see the ruined temple called Heusn Nieha, two
hours from Zahle, in the Djebel Sannin, and half an hour

[p.30] from the village of Fursul. These remains stand in a Wady,
surrounded by barren rocks, having a spring near them to the eastward.
The temple faced the west. A grand flight of steps, twelve paces broad,
with a column three feet and a half in diameter at each end of the lower
step, formed the approach to a spacious pronaos, in which are remains of
columns: here a door six paces in width opens into the cella, the fallen
roof of which now covers the floor, and the side walls to half their
original height only remain. This chamber is thirty-five paces in length
by fifteen in breadth. On each of the side walls stood six pilasters of
a bad Ionic order. At the extremity of the chamber are steps leading to
a platform, where the statue of the deity may, perhaps, have stood: the
whole space is here filled up with fragments of columns and walls. The
square stones used in the construction of the walls are in general about
four or five cubic feet each, but I saw some twelve feet long, four feet
high, and four feet in breadth. On the right side of the entrance door
is a staircase in the wall, leading to the top of the building, and much
resembling in its mode of construction the staircase in the principal
temple of Baalbec. The remains of the capitals of columns betray a very
corrupt taste, being badly sculptured, and without any elegance either
in design or execution; and the temple seems to have been built in the
latest times of paganism, and was perhaps subsequently repaired, and
converted into a church. The stone with which it has been built is more
decayed than that in the ruins at Baalbec, being here more exposed to
the inclemency of the weather. No inscriptions were any where visible.
Around the temple are some ruins of ancient and others of more modern
habitations.

Above Fursul is a plain called Habis, in which are a number of grottos
excavated in the rock, apparently tombs; but I did not visit them.

AIN ESSOUIRE

[p.31] October 9th.--I was disappointed in my intention of proceeding,
and passed the day in calling at several shops in the town, and
conversing with the merchants and Arab traders.

October 10th.--I set out for Hasbeya, accompanied by the same guide with
whom I had made the mountain tour. We crossed the Bekaa nearly in the
direction of Andjar.[The following are the villages in the Bekaa, and at
the foot of the western mountain, which from Zahle southward takes the
name of Djebel Riehan; namely, Saad-Nayel [Arabic], Talabaya [Arabic],
Djetye [Arabic], Bouarish [Arabic], Mekse [Arabic], Kab Elias [Arabic],
Mezraat [Arabic], Bemherye [Arabic], Aamyk [Arabic], Deir Tenhadish
[Arabic], Keferya [Arabic], Khereyt Kena [Arabic], Beit Far [Arabic],
Ain Zebde [Arabic], Segbin [Arabic], Deire el Djouze [Arabic], Bab Mara
[Arabic], Aitenyt [Arabic], El Kergoue [Arabic], El Medjdel [Arabic],
Belhysz [Arabic], Lala [Arabic], Meshgara [Arabic], Sahhar Wyhbar
[Arabic], Shedite, Nebi Zaour, Baaloul [Arabic], Bedjat [Arabic], Djub
Djenin [Arabic], Tel Danoub [Arabic], El Khyare [Arabic], El Djezyre
[Arabic], El Estabbel [Arabic], El Merdj [Arabic], Tel el Akhdar
[Arabic], Taanayl [Arabic], Ber Elias [Arabic], Deir Zeinoun [Arabic].]
The generality of the inhabitants of the Bekaa are Turks; one fifth,
perhaps, are Catholic Christians. There are no Metaweli. The land is
somewhat better cultivated than that of Belad Baalbec, but still five-
sixths Of the soil is left in pasture for the Arabs. The Fellahs
(peasant cultivators) are ruined by the exorbitant demands of the
proprietors of the soil, who are, for the greater part, noble families
of Damascus, or of the Druse mountains. The usual produce of the harvest
is tenfold, and in fruitful years it is often twenty fold.

After two hours and three quarters brisk walking of our horses, we
passed Medjdel to our right, near which, on the road, lies a piece of a
large column of acalcareous and flinty breccia. Half an hour beyond
Medjdel, we reached a spring called Ain Essouire. Above it in the hills
which branch out of the Anti-Libanus, or

HASBEYA

[p.32] Djurd Essharki, into the Bekaa, is the village Nebi Israi, and to
the left, in the Anti-Libanus, is the Druse village of Souire. A little
farther on we passed Hamara, a village on the Anti-Libanus. At one hour
from Ain Essouire, is Sultan Yakoub, with the tomb of a saint, a place
of holy resort of the Turks. Below it lies the Ain Sultan Yakoub. Half
an hour farther is Nebae el Feludj, a spring. Our road lay S. by W. At
the end of three hours and a half from Ain Essouire, we reached the
village El Embeite, on the top of a hill, opposite to Djebel Essheikh.
The route to this place, from Medjdel, lay through a valley of the Anti-
Libanus, which, farther on, towards El Heimte, loses itself in the
mountains comprised under the name of Djebel Essheikh. The summit of
this mountain, which bears west from Damascus, is probably the highest
in Syria, for snow was still lying upun it. The mountain belongs to the
district of the Emir of the Druses, commanding at Rasheia, a Druse
village at one hour and a half from El Heimte. We slept at El Heimte, in
the house of the Druse Sheikh, and the Khatib, or Turkish priest of the
village, gave us a plentiful supper. The Druses in this district affect
to adhere strictly to the religious precepts of the Turks. The greater
part of the inhabitants of El Heimte are Druses belonging to Rasheia.
Near it are the villages of Biri and Refit.

October 11th.--We set out at day-break, and at the end of an hour passed
on the left the Druse villages Deneibe and Mimis, and at two hours Sefa
on our right, also a Druse village. Our road lay over an uneven plain,
cultivated only in spots. After three hours and a half, we came to Ain
Efdjur, direction S.W. by W.; from thence in two hours and a half we
reached the Djissr-Moiet-Hasbeya, or bridge of the river of Hasbeya,
whose source is hard by; the road lying the whole way over rocky ground
little susceptible of culture. From the Djissr we turned up a steep Wady
E. b. S. and arrived, in about three quarters of an hour, at Hasbeya,
situated

[p.33] on the top of a mountain of no great height. I had letters from
the Greek patriarch of Damascus to the Greek bishop of Hasbeya, in whose
house, four years ago, Dr. Seetzen spent a week, having been prevented
from proceeding by violent snow and rain. The bishop happened to be
absent on my arrival, and I therefore took up my lodging in the house of
a poor Greek priest, with whose behaviour towards me I had every reason
to be satisfied.

October 12th.--The village or town of Hasbeya may contain seven hundred
houses; half of which belong to Druse families; the other half are
inhabited by Christians, principally Greeks, though there are also
Catholics and Maronites here. There are only forty Turkish families, and
twenty Enzairie. The inhabitants make cotton cloth for shirts and gowns,
and have a few dyeing houses. The principal production of their fields
is olives. The chief of the village is an Emir of the Druses, who is
dependent both on the Pasha of Damascus and the Emir Beshir. He lives in
a well-built Serai, which in time of war might serve as a castle. The
following villages belong to the territory of Hasbeya: Ain Sharafe, El
Kefeir, Ain Annia, Shoueia, Ain Tinte, El Kankabe, El Heberie, Rasheyat
el Fukhar, Ferdis, Khereibe, El Merie, Shiba, Banias, Ain Fid, Zoura,
Ain Kamed Banias, Djoubeta, Fershouba, Kefaer Hamam, El Waeshdal, El
Zouye.

The neighbourhood of Hasbeya is interesting to the mineralogist. I was
told by the priest that a metal was found near it, of which nobody knew
the name, nor made any use. Having procured a labourer, I found after
digging in the Wady a few hundred paces to the E. of the village,
several small pieces of a metallic substance, which I took to be a
native amalgam of mercury. According to the description given me,
cinnabar is also found here, but we could discover no specimen of it
after half an hour's digging. The ground all around, and the spring near
the village, are

SOUK EL KAHN.

[p.34] strongly impregnated with iron; the rock is sandstone, of a dark
red colour. The other mineral curiosities are, a number of wells of
bitumen Judaicum, in the Wady at one hour below the village on the west
side, after recrossing the bridge; they are situated upon the declivity
of a chalky hill; the bitumen is found in large veins at about twenty
feet below the surface. The pits are from six to twelve feet in
diameter; the workmen descend by a rope and wheel, and in hewing out the
bitumen, they leave columns of that substance at different intervals, as
a support to the earth above; pieces of several Rotolas in weight
each[The Rotola is about five pounds.] are brought up. There are upwards
of twenty-five of these pits or wells, but the greater part of them are
abandoned and overgrown with shrubs. I saw only one, that appeared to
have been recently worked; they work only during the summer months. The
bitumen is called Hommar, and the wells, Biar el Hommar [Arabic]. The
Emir possesses the monopoly of the bitumen; he alone works the pits, and
sells the produce to the merchants of Damascus, Beirout, and Aleppo. It
was now at thirty-three paras the Rotola, or about two-pence-halfpenny
the pound.

I left Hasbeya on the same day, and continued to descend the valley on
the side of the river. Half an hour from the bridge, I arrived at Souk
el Khan. In the hills to the right is the village Kankabe. Souk el Khan
is a large ruined Khan, where the inhabitants, to the distance of one
day's journey round, assemble every Tuesday to hold a market. In the
summer they exhibit their merchandize in the open air; but in the winter
they make use of some large rooms, still remaining within the Khan. The
road to Banias leads along the valley, parallel with the course of the
river; but as I had heard of some ruins in the mountain, at a village
called Hereibe, to the east of the route, I turned in that direction,
and reached the

HEREIBE.

[p.35] village in two hours after quitting Hasbeya. Between Souk el Khan
and Hereibe lies the village Ferdous. Hereibe is considerably higher
than the river. All this neighbourhood is planted with olive-trees; and
olives, from hence to Damascus, are the most common food of the
inhabitants, who put them into salt, but they do not thereby entirely
remove the bitter taste. At Aleppo and Damascus, olives destined for the
table are immersed for a fortnight in water, in which are dissolved one
proportion of chalk and two proportions of alkali; this takes away all
bitterness, but the fruit is at the same time deprived of a part of its
flavour.

On the west side of the village of Hereibe stands a ruined temple, quite
insulated; it is twenty paces in length, and thirteen in breadth; the
entrance is towards the west, and it had a vestibule in front with two
columns. On each side of the entrance are two niches one above the
other, the upper one has small pilasters, the lower one is ornamented on
the top by a shell, like the niches in the temple at Baalbec. The door-
way, which has no decoration whatever, opens into a room ten paces
square, in which no columns, sculpture, or Ornaments of any kind are
visible; three of the walls only are standing. At the back of this
chamber is a smaller, four paces and a half in breadth, by ten in
length, in one corner of which is a half-ruined staircase, leading to
the top of the building; in this smaller room are four pilasters in the
four angles; under the large room are two spacious vaults. On the
outside of the temple, at the east corners, are badly wrought pilasters
of the Ionic order. The roof has fallen in, and fills up the interior.
The stone employed is of the same quality as that used at Heusn Nieha
and Baalbec.

From Hereibe I came to the spring Ain Ferkhan in one hour; and from
thence, in three quarters of an hour, to the village

BANIAS.

[p.36]Rasheyat-el-Fukhar, over mountainous ground. The village stands on
a mountain which commands a beautiful view of the lake Houle, its plain,
and the interjacent country. It contains about one hundred houses,
three-fourths of which are inhabited by Turks and the remainder by
Greeks. The inhabitants live by the manufacture of earthen pots, which
they sell to the distance of four or five days journey around,
especially in the Haouran and Djolan; they mould them in very elegant
shapes, and paint them with a red-earth: almost every house has its
pottery, and the ovens in which the pots are baked are common to all.
The Houle bears from Rasheyat-el-Fukhar, between S. by E. and S.E. by S.
Kalaat el Shkif, on the top of the mountain, towards Acre, E. by N. and
Banias, though not visible, S.

October 13th.--We set out in a rainy morning from Rasheyat-el-Fukhar. I
was told that in the mountain to the E. one hour and a half, were
considerable ruins. The mountains of Hasbeya, or the chain of the Djebel
Essheikh, divide, at five hours N. from the lake, into two branches. The
western, a little farther to the south, takes the name of Djebel Safat,
the eastern joins the Djebel Heish and its continuations, towards
Banias. Between the two lie the lake of the Houle and the Ard el Houle,
the latter from three to four hours in breadth. We descended from
Rasheyat-el-Fukhar into the plain, in which we continued till we reached
Banias, at the end of four hours, thoroughly drenched by a heavy shower
of rain. We alighted at the Menzel or Medhaafe; this is a sort of Khan
found in almost every village through which there is a frequented route.
Strangers sleep in the Medhaafe, and the Sheikh of the village generally
sends them their dinner or supper; for this he does not accept of any
present, at least not of such as common travellers can offer; but it is
custmary to give something to the servant or watchman (Natur) who brings
the meal, and takes care that

CASTLE OF BANAIS.

[p.37]nothing is stolen from the strangers' baggage. The district of
Banias is classic ground; it is the ancient Caesarea Philippi; the lake
Houle is the Lacus Samachonitis.

My money being almost expended, I had no time to lose in gratifying my
curiosity in the invirons of Banias. Immediately after my arrival I took
a man of the village to shew me the way to the ruined castle of Banias,
which bears E. by S. from it. It stands on the top of a mountain, which
forms part of the mountain of Heish, at an hour and a quarter from
Banias; it is now in complete ruins, but was once a very strong
fortress. Its whole circumference is twenty-five minutes. It is
surrounded by a wall ten feet thick, flanked with numerous round towers,
built with equal blocks of stone, each about two feet square. The keep
or citadel seems to have been on the highest summit, on the eastern
side, where the walls are stronger than on the lower, or western side.
The view from hence over the Houle and a part of its lake, the Djebel
Safad, and the barren Heish, is magnificent. On the western side, within
the precincts of the castle, are ruins of many private habitations. At
both the western corners runs a succession of dark strongly built low
apartments, like cells, vaulted, and with small narrow loop holes, as if
for musquetry. On this side also is a well more than twenty feet square,
walled in, with a vaulted roof at least twenty-five feet high; the well
was, even in this dry season, full of water: there are three others in
the castle. There are many apartments and recesses in the castle, which
could only be exactly described by a plan of the whole building. It
seems to have been erected during the period of the crusades, and must
certainly have been a very strong hold to those who possessed it. I saw
no inscriptions, though I was afterwards told that there are several
both in Arabic and in Frank (Greek or Latin). The castle has but one
gate, on the south side. I could discover no traces

BANIAS.

[p.38]of a road or paved way leading up the mountain to it. The valley
at its S.E. foot is called Wady Kyb, that on its western side Wady el
Kashabe, and on the other side of the latter, Wady el Asal. In winter
time the shepherds of the Felahs of the Heish, who encamp upon the
mountain, pass the night in the castle with their cattle.

Banias is situated at the foot of the Heish, in the plain, which in the
immediate vicinity of Banias is not called Ard Houle, but Ard Banias. It
contains about one hundred and fifty houses, inhabited mostly by Turks:
there are also Greeks, Druses, and Enzairie. It belongs to Hasbeya,
whose Emir nominates the Sheikh. On the N.E. side of the village is the
source of the river of Banias, which empties itself into the Jordan at
the distance of an hour and a half, in the plain below. Over the source
is a perpendicular rock, in which several niches have been cut to
receive statues.

The largest niche is above a spacious cavern, under which the river
rises. This niche is six feet broad and as much in depth, and has a
smaller niche in the bottom of it. Immediately above it, in the

[p.39] perpendicular face of the rock, is another niche, adorned with
pilasters, supporting a shell ornament like that of Hereibe.

There are two other niches near these, and twenty paces farther two more
nearly buried in the ground at the foot of the rock. Each of these
niches had an inscription annexed to it, but I could not decipher any
thing except the following characters above one of the niches which are
nearly covered with earth.

[Greek]

In the middle niche of the three, which are represented in the
engraving, the base of the statue is still visible.[Banias, [Greek
text], or Caesareia Philippi, was the Dan of the Jews. The name Paneas
was derived from the worship of Pan. The niche in the cavern probably
contained a statue of Pan, and the other niches similar dedications to
the same or other deities. The cavern and [Greek text], or sanctuary of
Pan, are described by Josephus, from whom it appears also that the
fountain was considered the source of the Jordan, and at the same time
the outlet of a small lake called Phiala, which was situated 120 stades
from Caesareia towards Trachonitis, or the north-east. The whole
mountain had the name of Paneium. The hewn stones round the spring may
have belonged, perhaps, to the temple of Augustus, built here by Herod.
Joseph. de Bel. Jud. l.i,c.16. Antiq. Jud. l.3,c.10,-l.15,c.10. Euseb.
Hist. Eccl. l.12,c.17. The inscription appears to have been annexed to a
dedication by a priest of Pan, who had prefixed the usual pro salute for
the reigning Emperors. Ed.]

Upon the top of the rock, to the left of the niches, is a mosque
dedicated to Nebi Khouder, called by the Christians Mar Georgius, which
is a place of devotion for Mohammedan strangers passing this way. Round
the source of the river are a number of hewn stones. The stream flows on
the north side of the village; where is a well built bridge and some
remains of the ancient town, the principal part of which seems, however,
to have been on the opposite side of the river, where the ruins extend
for a

[p.40]quarter of an hour from the bridge. No walls remain, but great
quantities of stones and architectural fragments are scattered about. I
saw also an entire column, of small dimensions. In the village itself,
on the left side of the river, lies a granite column of a light gray
colour, one foot and a half in diameter.

October 15th.--It being Ramazan, we remained under a large tree before
the Menzel, smoking and conversing till very late. The researches which
Mr. Seetzen made here four years ago were the principal topic; he
continued his tour from hence towards the lake of Tabaria, and the
eastern borders of the Dead Sea. The Christians believe that he was sent
by the Yellow King (Melek el Aszfar, a title which they give the Emperor
of Russia) to examine the country preparatory to an invasion, to deliver
it from the Turkish yoke. The Turks, on the contrary, believe, that,
like all strangers who enquire after inscriptions, he was in search of
treasure. When questioned on this subject at Baalbec, I answered, "The
treasures of this country are not beneath the earth; they come from God,
and are on the surface of the earth. Work your fields and sow them; and
you will find the greatest treasure in an abundant harvest." "By your
life (a common oath) truth comes from your lips," ([Arabic] is a common
word used in Syria for [Arabic] which signifies "thy mouth."] [Arabic]
Wuhiyatak, el hak fi tummak) was the reply.

On the south side of the village are the ruins of a strong castle,
which, from its appearance and mode of construction, may be conjectured
to be of the same age as the castle upon the mountain. It is surrounded
by a broad ditch, and had a wall within the ditch. Several of its towers
are still standing. A very solid bridge, which crosses the winter
torrent, Wady el Kyd, leads to the entrance of the castle, over which is
an Arabic inscription; but for want of a ladder, I could make out
nothing of it but the date "600 and ... years (.... [Arabic])," taking
the era of the Hedjra,

BOSTRA.

[p.41]it coincides with the epoch of the crusades. There are five or six
granite columns built into the walls of the gateway.

I went to see the ruins of the ancient city of Bostra, of which the
people spoke much, adding that Mousa (the name assumed by Mr. Seetzen)
had offered thirty piastres to any one who would accompany him to the
place, but that nobody had ventured, through fear of the Arabs. I found
a good natured fellow, who for three piastres undertook to lead me to
the spot. Bostra must not be confounded with Boszra, in the Haouran;
both places are mentioned in the Books of Moses. The way to the ruins
lies for an hour and a half in the road by which I came from Rasheyat-
el-Fukhar, it then ascends for three quarters of an hour a steep
mountain to the right, on the top of which is the city; it is divided
into two parts, the largest being upon the very summit, the smaller at
ten minutes walk lower down, and resembling a suburb to the upper part.
Traces are still visible of a paved way that had connected the two
divisions. There is scarcely any thing in the ruins worth notice; they
consist of the foundations of private habitations, built of moderate
sized square stones. The lower city is about twelve minutes walk in
circumference; a part of the four walls of one building only remains
entire; in the midst of the ruins was a well, at this time dried up. The
circuit of the upper city may be about twenty minutes; in it are the
remains of several buildings. In the highest part is a heap of wrought
stones of larger dimensions than the rest, which seem to indicate that
some public building had once stood on the spot. There are several
fragments of columns of one foot and of one foot and a half in diameter.
In two different places a short column was standing in the centre of a
round paved area of about ten feet in diameter. There is likewise a deep
well, walled in, but now dry.

The country around these ruins is very capable of cultivation.

SOURCES OF THE JORDAN

[p.42]Near the lower city are groups of olive trees. Pieces of feldspath
of various colours are scattered about in great quantities upon the
chalky rock of this mountain. I found in going up a species of locust
with six very long legs, and a slender body of about four inches in
length. My guide told me that this insect was called [This is the
abbreviation of - [Arabic].] [Arabic] Salli al-nabi, i.e. "pray to the
Prophet."

I descended the mountain in the direction towards the source of the
Jordan, and passed, at the foot of it, the miserable village of Kerwaya.
Behind the mountain of Bostra is another, still higher, called Djebel
Meroura Djoubba. At one hour E. from Kerwaye, in the Houle, is the tomb
of a Turkish Sheikh, with a few houses near it, called Kubbet el Arbai-
in w-el-Ghadjar [Arabic].

The greater part of the fertile plain of the Houle is uncultivated; the
Arabs El Faddel, El Naim, and the Turkmans pasture their cattle here. It
is watered by the river of Hasbeya, the Jordan, and the river of Banias,
besides several rivulets which descend from the mountains on its eastern
side. The source of the Jordan, or as it is here called, Dhan [Arabic],
is at an hour and a quarter N.E. from Banias. It is in the plain, near a
hill called Tel-el-Kadi. There are two springs near each other, one
smaller than the other, whose waters unite immediately below. Both
sources are on level ground, amongst rocks of tufwacke. The larger
source immediately forms a river twelve or fifteen yards across, which
rushes rapidly over a stony bed into the lower plain. There are no ruins
of any kind near the springs; but the hill over them seems to have been
built upon, though nothing now is visible. At a quarter of an hour to
the N. of the spring are ruins of ancient habitations, built of the
black tufwacke, the principal rock found in the plain. The few houses at
present inhabited on that spot are called Enkeil.

BANIAS.

[p.43]I was told that the ancient name of the river of Banias was Djour,
which added to the name of Dhan, made Jourdan; the more correct
etymology is probably Or Dhan, in Hebrew the river of Dhan. Lower down,
between the Houle and the lake Tabaria, it is called Orden by the
inhabitants; to the southward of the lake of Tabaria it bears the name
of Sherya, till it falls into the Dead Sea.

October 15th.--My guide returned to Zahle. It was my intention to take a
view of the lake and its eastern borders; but a tumour, which threatened
to prevent both riding and walking, obliged me to proceed immediately to
Damascus. I had reason to congratulate myself on the determination, for
if I had staid a day longer, I should have been compelled to await my
recovery at some village on the road. Add to this, I had only the value
of four shillings left, after paying my guide: this alone, however,
should not have prevented me from proceeding, as I knew that two days
were sufficient to enable me to gratify my curiosity, and a guide would
have thought himself well paid at two shillings a day; as to the other
expenses, travelling in the manner of the country people rendered money
quite unnecessary.

There are two roads from Banias to Damascus: the one lies through the
villages of Koneitza and Sasa; the other is more northly; I took the
latter, though the former is most frequented, being the route followed
by all the pilgrims from Damascus and Aleppo to Jerusalem; but it is
less secure for a small caravan, owing to the incursions of the Arabs.
The country which I had visited to the westward is perfectly secure to
the stranger: I might have safely travelled it alone unarmed, and
without a guide. The route through the district of the Houle and Banias,
and from thence to Damascus, on the contrary, is very dangerous: the
Arabs as well as the Felahs, are often known to attack unprotected
strangers, and

DJOUBETA.

[p.44]a small body of men was stripped at Koneitza during my stay at
Banias.

As soon as I declared my wish to return to Damascus, I was advised by
several people present to take a guard of armed men with me, but knowing
that this was merely a pretext to extort money without at all ensuring
my safety, I declined the proposal, and said I should wait for a Kaffle.
It fortunately happened that the Sheikh of the village had business at
Damascus, and we were glad of each other's company. We set out in the
afternoon, accompanied by the Sheikh's servant. The direction of the
route is E.b.S. up the mountain of the Heish, behind the castle of
Banias. We passed several huts of Felahs, who live here the whole
summer, and retire in winter to their villages. They make cheese for the
Damascus market. At the end of an hour and a half we came to Ain el
Hazouri, a spring, with the tomb of Sheikh Othman el Hazouri just over
it; to the north of it one hour are the ruins of a city called Hazouri.
The mountain here is overgrown with oaks, but contains good pasturage; I
was told that in the Wady Kastebe, near the castle, there are oak trees
more than sixty feet high. One hour more brought us to the village of
Djoubeta, where we remained during the night at the house of some
friends of the Sheikh of Banias. This village belongs to Hasbeya; it is
inhabited by about fifty Turkish and ten Greek families; they subsist
chiefly by the cultivation of olives, and by the rearing of cattle. I
was well treated at the house where we alighted, and also at that of the
Sheikh of the village, where I went to drink a cup of coffee. It being
Ramadan, we passed the greater part of the night in conversation and
smoking; the company grew merry, and knowing that I was curious about
ruined places, began to enumerate all the villages and ruins in

MEDJEL.

[p.45]the neighbourhood, of which I subjoin the names.[The ruins of
Dara, Bokatha, Bassisa, Alouba, Afkerdouva, Hauratha (this was described
as being of great extent, with many walls and arches still remaining,)
Enzouby, Hauarit, Kleile, Emteile, Mesherefe, Zar, Katloube in the Wady
Asal, Kseire, Kafoua, Beit el Berek. The villages of Kfershouba, Maonyre
in the district Kereimat, Ain el Kikan, Mezahlak, Merj el Rahel, Sheba,
Zeneble, Zor or Afid, Merdj Zaa. In the Houle, Amerie, Nebi Djahutha,
Sheheil.] The neighbouring mountains of the Heish abound in tigers
([Arabic] nimoura); their skins are much esteemed by the Arab Sheikhs as
saddle cloths. There are also bears, wolves, and stags; the wild boar is
met with in all the mountains which I visited in my tour.

October 16th.--The friends of the Sheikh of Banias having dissuaded him
from proceeding, on account of the dangers of the road, his servant and
myself set out early in the morning. In three quarters of an hour we
reached the village of Medjel, inhabited by Druses, with four or five
Christian families. The Druses who inhahit the country near Damascus are
very punctual in observing the rites of the Mohammedan religion, and
fast, or at least pretend to do so, during the Ramadan. In their own
country, some profess Christianity, others Mohammedism. The chief, the
Emir Beshir, keeps a Latin confessor in his house; yet all of them, when
they visit Damascus, go to the mosque. Medjel is situated on a small
plain high up in the mountain; half an hour further on is a spring; and
at one hour and a quarter beyond, is a spacious plain. The mountain here
is in most places capable of cultivation. In one hour more we reached
the top. The oak tree is very frequent here as well as the bear's plum
[Arabic] (Khoukh eddeb), the berries of which afford a very refreshing
nourishment to the traveller. The rock is partly calcareous, and partly
of a porous tufa, but softer than that which I saw in the Houle. At one
hour and a quarter farther is the Beit el Djanne (the House of
Paradise), in a narrow Wady, at a

REITIMA.

[p.46]spot where the valley widens a little. On its western side are
several sepulchral caves hewn in the chalky rock. Another quarter of an
hour brought us to the Ain Beit el Djanne, a copious spring, with a mill
near it; and from thence, in half an hour, we reached the plain on the
eastern side of the mountain. Our route now lay N.E. by E.; to the right
was the open country adjoining the Haouran, to the left the chain of the
Heish, at the foot of which we continued to travel for the remainder of
the day. The villages on the eastern declivity of the Heish, between
Beit el Djanne and Kferhauar are, Hyna, Um Esshara, Dourboul, Oerna, and
Kalaat el Djendel.

At three hours and a half from the point where the Wady Beit el Djanne
terminates in the plain is the village Kferhauar. Before we entered it I
saw to the left of the road a tomb which attracted my attention by its
size. I was told that it was the Kaber Nimroud (the tomb of Nimrod); it
consists of a heap of stones about twenty feet in length, two feet high,
and three feet broad, with a large stone at both extremities, similar to
the tombs in Turkish cemeteries. This is probably the Kalat Nimroud laid
down in maps, to the south of Damascus; at least I never heard of any
Kalaat Nimroud in that direction.

To the right of our road, one hour and a half from Kferhauar, lay Sasa,
and near it Ghaptata. Half an hour farther from Kferhauar we alighted at
the village Beitima. On a slight eminence near Kferhauar stands a small
tower, and there is another of the same size behind Beitima. The
principal article of culture here is cotton: the crop was just ripe, and
the inhabitants were occupied in collecting it. There are Druses at
Kferhauar as well as at Beitima; at the latter village I passed an
uncomfortable rainy night, in the court-yard of a Felah's house.

October 17th.--We continued to follow the Djebel Heish (which

DJOUN.

[p.47]however takes a more northern direction than the Damascus road
for four hours, when we came to Katana, a considerable village, with
good houses, and spacious gardens; the river, whose source is close to
the village, empties itself into the Merj of Damascus.

Three hours from Katana, passing over the district called Ard el Lauan,
we came to Kfersousa. Beyond Katana begins the Djebel el Djoushe, which
continues as far as the Djebel Salehie, near Damascus, uniting, on its
western side, the lower ridge of mountains of the Djebel Essheikh.
Kfersousa lies just within the limits of the gardens of the Merdj of
Damascus. In one hour beyond it I re-entered Damascus, greatly fatigued,
having suffered great pain.

After returning to Damascus from my tour in the Haouran, I was desirous
to see the ruins of Rahle and Bourkoush, in the Djebel Essheikh, which I
had heard mentioned by several people of Rasheya during my stay at
Shohba. On the 12th of December, I took a man with me, and rode to
Katana, by a route different from that through the Ard el Lauan, by
which I travelled from Katana to Damascus in October. It passes in a
more southerly direction through the villages of Deir raye [Arabic], one
hour beyond Bonabet Ullah; and another hour Djedeide; one hour and a
quarter from Djedeide is Artous [Arabic], in which are many Druse
families; in an hour from Artous we reached Katana. This is a very
pleasant road, through well cultivated fields and groves. I here saw
nurseries of apricot trees, which are transplanted into the gardens at
Damascus. To the south of Artous three quarters of an hour, is the
village of Kankab, situated upon a hill; below it is the village of
Djoun, opposite to which,

RAHLE

[p.48]and near the village Sahnaya, lies the Megarat Mar Polous, or St.
Paul's cavern, where the Apostle is related to have hidden himself from
the pursuit of his enemies at Damascus. The monks of Terra Santa, who
have a convent at Damascus, had formerly a chapel at Sahnaya, where one
of their fraternity resided; but the Roman Catholic Christians of the
village having become followers of the Greek church, the former
abandoned their establishment. To the N.E. of Djedeide, and half an hour
from it, is the village Maddharnie.

Katana is one of the chief villages in the neighbourhood of Damascus; it
contains about one hundred and eighty Turkish families, and four or five
of Christians. The Sheikh, to whom the village belongs, is of a very
rich Damascus family, a descendant of a Santon, whose tomb is shewn in
the mosque of the village. Adjoining to the tomb is a hole in the rocky
ground, over which an apartment has been built for the reception of
maniacs; they are put down into the hole, and a stone is placed over its
mouth; here they remain for three or four days, after which, as the
Turks pretend, they regain their senses. The Christians say that the
Santon was a Patriarch of Damascus, who left his flock, and turned
hermit, and that he gained great reputation amongst the Turks, because
whenever he prostrated himself before the Deity, his sheep imitated his
example. Katana has a bath, and near it the Sheikh has a good house. The
villagers cultivate mulberry trees to feed their silk worms, and some
cotton, besides corn. The day after my arrival I engaged two men to shew
me the way to the ruins. We began to cross the lower branches of the
Djebel Essheikh, at the foot of which Katana is situated, and after an
hour and a quarter came to Bir Karme, likewise called El Redhouan, a
spring in a narrow valley. We rode over mountainous ground in the road
to Rasheya, passed another well of

CASTLE OF BOURKUSH.

[p.49]spring water, and at the end of four hours reached Rahle, a
miserable Druse village, half an hour to the right of the road from
Katana to Rasheia. The ruins are to the north of the village, in the
narrow valley of Rahle, and consist principally of a ruined temple,
built of large square stones, of the same calcareous rock used in the
buildings of Baalbec: little else remains than the foundations, which
are twenty paces in breadth, and thirty in length; within the area of
the temple are the foundations of a circular building. Many fragments of
columns are lying about, and a few extremely well formed capitals of the
Ionic order. Upon two larger stones lying near the gate, which probably
formed the architrave, is the figure of a bird with expanded wings, not
inferior in execution to the bird over the architrave of the great
temple at Baalbec; its head is broken off; in its claws is something of
the annexed form, bearing no resemblance to the usual figure of the
thunderbolt. On the exterior, wall, on the south side of the temple, is
a large head, apparently of a female, three feet and a half high, and
two feet and a half broad, sculptured upon one of the large square
stones which form the wall: its features are perfectly regular, and are
enclosed by locks of hair, terminating in thin tresses under the chin.
This head seems never to have belonged to a whole length figure, as the
stone on which it is sculptured touches the ground. Near the ruins is a
deep well. A few hundred paces to the south, upon an eminence, are the
ruins of another edifice, of which there remain the foundations of the
walls, and a great quantity of broken columns of small size. Around
these edifices are the remains of numerous private habitations; a short
column is found standing in most of them, in the centre of the
foundations of the building. In the neighbouring rocks about a dozen
small cells are excavated, in some of which are cavities for bodies. I
found no inscriptions.

KATANA.

[p.50]S.W. from Rahle, one hour and a half, are the ruins of the castle
of Bourkush [Arabic]. We passed the spring called Ain Ward (the rose
spring), near a plain in the midst of the mountains called Merdj
Bourkush. The ruins stand upon a mountain, which appeared to me to be
one of the highest of the lower chain of the Djebel Essherk. At the foot
of the steep ascent leading up to the castle, on the N.W. side, is a
copious spring, and another to the W. midway in the ascent. These ruins
consist of the outer walls of the castle, built with large stones, some
of which are eight feet long, and five broad. A part only of the walls
are standing. In the interior are several apartments which have more the
appearance of dungeons than of habitations. The rock, upon which the
whole structure is erected, has been levelled so as to form an area
within, round which ran a wall; a part of this wall is formed by the
solid rock, upwards of eight feet high, and as many broad, the rock
having been cut down on both sides.

To the E. of this castle are the ruins of a temple built much in the
same style as that of Rahle, but of somewhat smaller dimensions, and
constructed of smaller stones. The architrave of the door is supported
by two Corinthian pilasters. A few Druse families reside at Bourkush,
who cultivate the plain below. On the S.E. side of the ascent to the
castle are small caverns cut in the rock. From this point Katana bore
S.E.

We returned from Bourkush to Katana by Ain Embery, a rivulet whose
source is hard by in the Wady, with some ruined habitations near it. The
distance from Bourkush to Katana is two hours and a half brisk walking
of a horse. The summit of the mountain was covered with snow. I heard of
several other ruins, but had no time to visit them. There are several
villages of Enzairie in the mountain. On the third day from my departure
I returned to Damascus.

[p.51]JOURNAL

OF AN

EXCURSION INTO THE HAOURAN

IN THE AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1810.

November 8th.--On returning from the preceding tour, I was detained at
Damascus for more than a fortnight by indisposition. As soon as I had
recovered my health I began to prepare for a journey into the plain of
the Haouran, and the mountains of the Druses of the Haouran, a country
which, as well from the reports of natives, as from what I heard that
Mr. Seetzen had said of it, on his return from visiting a part of it
four years ago, I had reason to think was in many respects highly
interesting. I requested of the Pasha the favour of a Bouyourdi, or
general passport to his officers in the Haouran, which he readily
granted, and on receiving it I found that I was recommended in very
strong terms. Knowing that there were many Christians, chiefly of the
Greek church, I thought it might be equally useful to procure from the
Greek Patriarch of Damascus, with whom I was well acquainted, a letter
to his flock in the Haouran. On communicating my wishes, he caused a
circular letter to be written to all the priest, which I  found of
greater

DEPARTURE FROM DAMASCUS.

[p.52]weight among the Greeks than the Bouyourdi was among the Turks.

Being thus furnished with what I considered most necessary, I assumed
the dress of the Haouran people, with a Keffie, and a large sheep-skin
over my shoulders: in my saddle bag I put one spare shirt, one pound of
coffee beans, two pounds of tobacco, and a day's provender of barley for
my horse. I then joined a few Felahs of Ezra, of one of whom I hired an
ass, though I had nothing to load it with but my small saddle-bag; but I
knew this to be the best method of recommending myself to the protection
of my fellow travellers; as the owner of the ass necessarily becomes the
companion and protector of him who hires it. Had I offered to pay him
before setting out merely for his company on the way, he would have
asked triple the sum I gave him, without my deriving the smallest
advantage from this increase, while he would have considered my conduct
as extraordinary and suspicious. In my girdle I had eighty piastres,
(about L4. sterling) and a few more in my pocket, together with a watch,
a compass, a journal book, a pencil, a knife, and a tobacco purse. The
coffee I knew would be very acceptable in the houses where I might
alight; and throughout the journey I was enabled to treat all the
company present with coffee.

My companions intending to leave Damascus very early the next morning, I
quitted my lodgings in the evening, and went with them to sleep in a
small Khan in the suburb of Damascus, at which the Haouaerne, or people
of Haouran, generally alight.

November 9th.--We departed through this gate of the Meidhan, three hours
before sun-rise, and took the road by which the Hadj annually commences
its laborious journey; this gate is called Bab Ullah, the Gate of God,
but might, with more propriety be named Bab-el-Maut, the Gate of Death;
for scarcely a third ever

KESSOUE.

[p.53]returns of those whom a devout adherence to their religion, or the
hope of gain impel to this journey. The approach to Damascus on this
side is very grand: being formed by a road above one hundred and fifty
paces broad, which is bordered on each side by a grove of olive trees,
and continues in a straight line for upwards of an hour. A quarter of an
hour from Bab Ullah, to the left, stands a mosque with a Kiosk, called
Kubbet el Hadj, where the Pasha who conducts the Hadj passes the first
night of his journey, which is invariably the fifteenth of the month
Shauwal. On the other side of the road, and opposite to it, lies the
village El Kadem (the foot), where Mohammed is said to have stopped,
without entering Damascus, when coming from Mekka. Half an hour farther
is a bridge over a small rivulet: to the left are the villages Zebeine
and Zebeinat; to the right the village Deir raye. In another half hour
we came to a slight ascent, called Mefakhar; at its foot is a bridge
over the rivulet El Berde; to the right is the village El Sherafie: to
the left, parallel with the road, extends a stony district called War-
ed-djamous [Arabic] the Buffaloes War, War being an appellation given to
all stony soils whether upon plains or mountains. Here the ground is
very uneven; in traversing it we passed the Megharat el Haramie [Arabic]
or Thief's Cavern, the nightly refuge of disorderly persons. On the
other side of the War is a descent called Ard Shoket el Haik, which
leads into the plain, and in half an hour to the village El Kessoue;
distant from Damascus three hours and a quarter in a S.S.E. direction.
El Kessoue is a considerable village, situated on the river Aawadj
[Arabic], or the crooked, which flows from the neighbourhood of Hasbeya,
and waters the plain of Djolan; in front of the village a well paved
bridge crosses the river, on each side of which, to the W. and E.
appears a chain of low mountains; those to the east are called Djebel
Manai [Arabic], and contain large caverns; the

GHABARIB.

[p.54]summits of the two chains nearest the village are called by a
collective name Mettall el Kessoue [Arabic]. I stopped for half an hour
at Kessoue, at a coffee house by the road side. The village has a small
castle, or fortified building, over the bridge.

From Kessoue a slight ascent leads up to a vast plain, called Ard
Khiara, from a village named Khiara. In three quarters of an hour from
Kessoue we reached Khan Danoun, a ruined building. Here, or at Kessoue,
the pilgrim caravan passes the second night. Near Khan Danoun, a rivulet
flows to the left. This Khan, which is now in ruins, was built in the
usual style of all the large Khans in this country: consisting of an
open square, surrounded with arcades, beneath which are small apartments
for the accommodation of travellers; the beasts occupy the open square
in the centre. From Khan Danoun the road continues over the plain, where
few cultivated spots appear, for two hours and a quarter; we then
reached a Tel, or high hill, the highest summit of the Djebel Khiara, a
low mountain chain which commences here, and runs in a direction
parallel with the Djebel Manai for about twenty miles. The mountains
Khiara and Manai are sometimes comprised under the name of Djebel
Kessoue, and so I find them laid down in D'Anville's map. The summit of
Djebel Khiara is called Soubbet Faraoun. From thence begins a stony
district, which extends to the village Ghabarib [Arabic], one hour and a
quarter from the Soubbet. Upon a hill to the W. of the road, stands a
small building crowned with a cupola, to which the Turks resort, from a
persuasion that the prayers there offered up are peculiarly acceptable
to the deity. This building is called Meziar Eliasha [Arabic], or the
Meziar of Elisha. The Hadj route has been paved in several places for
the distance of a hundred yards or more, in order to facilitate the
passage of the pilgrims in years when the Hadj takes place during the
rainy season.

SZANAMEIN.

[p.55]Ghabarib has a ruined castle, and on the side of the road is a
Birket or reservoir, with a copious spring. These cisterns are met with
at every station on the Hadj route as far as Mekka; some of them are
filled by rain water; others by small streams, which if they were not
thus collected into one body would be absorbed in the earth, and could
not possibly afford water for the thousands of camels which pass, nor
for the filling of the water-skins.

At one hour beyond Ghabarib is the village Didy, to the left of the
road: one hour from Didy, Es-szanamein [Arabic], the Two Idols; the
bearing of the road from Kessoue is S.b.E.[The variation of the compass
is not computed in any of the bearings of this journal.] Szanamein is a
considerable village, with several ancientbuildings and towers; but as
my companions were unwilling to stop, I could not examine them closely.
I expected to revisit them on my return to Damascus, but I subsequently
preferred taking the route of the Loehf. I was informed afterwards that
many Greek inscriptions are to be found at Szanamein.

From Szanamein the Hadj route continues in the same direction as before
to Tafar and Mezerib; we left it and took a route more easterly. That
which we had hitherto travelled being the high road from the Haouran to
Damascus, is perfectly secure, and we met with numerous parties of
peasants going to and from the city;

but we had scarcely passed Szanamein when we were apprised by some
Felahs that a troop of Arabs Serdie had been for several days past
plundering the passengers and villages in the neighbourhood. Afraid of
being surprised, my companions halted and sewed their purses up in a
camel's pack saddle; I followed their example. I was informed that these
flying parties of Arabs very rarely drive away the cattle of the Haouran
people, but are satisfied with stripping them of cash, or any new piece
of dress

EZRA.

[p.56]which they may have purchased at Damascus, always however giving
them a piece of old clothing of the same kind in return. The country
from Szanamein to one hour's distance along our road is stony, and is
thence called War Szanamein. After passing it, we met some other Haouran
people, whose reports concerning the Arabs so terrified my companions,
that they resolved to give up their intention of reaching Ezra the same
day, and proceeded to seek shelter in a neighbouring village, there to
wait for fresh news. We turned off a little to our left, and alighted at
a village called Tebne [Arabic], distant one hour and a half from
Szanamein. We left our beasts in the court-yard of our host's house, and
went to sup with the Sheikh, a Druse, at whose house strangers are
freely admitted to partake of a plate of Burgoul. Tebne stands upon a
low hill, on the limits of the stony district called the Ledja, of which
I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. The village has no water but
what it derives from its cisterns, which were at this time nearly dry.
It consists wholly of ancient habitations, built of stone, of a kind
which I shall describe in speaking of Ezra.

November 10th.--We quitted Tebne early in the morning, and passing the
villages Medjidel [Arabic], Mehadjer [Arabic], Shekara [Arabic], and
Keratha [Arabic], all on the left of the route, arrived, at the end of
three hours and a quarter, at Ezra [Arabic]. Here commences the plain of
the Haouran, which is interrupted by numerous insulated hills, on the
declivities, or at the foot of which, most of the villages of the
Haouran are seated. From Tebne the soil begins to be better cultivated,
yet many parts of it are overgrown with weeds. On a hill opposite
Manhadje, on the west side of the road, stands a Turkish Meziar, called
Mekdad. In approaching Ezra we met a troop of about eighty of the
Pasha's cavalry; they had, the preceding night, surprised the above-
mentioned

[p.57]party of Arabs Serdie in the village of Walgha, and had killed
Aerar, their chief, and six others, whose heads they were carrying with
them in a sack. They had also taken thirty-one mares, of which the
greater number were of the best Arabian breeds. Afraid of being pursued
by the friends of the slain they were hastening back to Damascus, where,
as I afterwards heard, the Pasha presented them with the captured mares,
and distributed eight purses, or about L200. amongst them.

On reaching Ezra I went to the house of the Greek priest of the village,
whom I had already seen at the Patriarch's at Damascus, and with whom I
had partly concerted my tour in the Haouran. He had been the conductor
of M. Seetzen, and seemed to be very ready to attend me also, for a
trifling daily allowance, which he stipulated. Ezra is one of the
principal villages of the Haouran; it contains about one hundred and
fifty Turkish and Druse families, and about fifty of Greek Christians.
It lies within the precincts of the Ledja, at half an hour from the
arable ground: it has no spring water, but numerous cisterns. Its
inhabitants make cotton stuffs, and a great number of millstones, the
blocks for forming which, are brought from the interior of the Ledja;
the stones are exported from hence, as well as from other villages in
the Loehf, over the greater part of Syria, as far as Aleppo and
Jerusalem. They vary in price, according to their size, from fifteen to
sixty piastres, and are preferred to all others on account of the
hardness of the stone, which is the black tufa rock spread over the
whole of the Haouran, and the only species met with in this country.

Ezra was once a flourishing city; its ruins are between three and four
miles in circumference. The present inhabitants continue to live in the
ancient buildings, which, in consequence of the strength and solidity of
their walls, are for the greater part in complete preservation

[p.58]They are built of stone, as are all the houses of the villages in
the Haouran and Djebel Haouran from Ghabarib to Boszra, as well as of
those in the desert beyond the latter. In general each dwelling has a
small entrance leading into a court-yard, round which are the
apartments; of these the doors are usually very low. The interior of the
rooms is constructed of large square stones; across the centre is a
single arch, generally between two and three feet in breadth, which
supports the roof; this arch springs from very low pilasters on each
side of the room, and in some instances rises immediately from the
floor: upon the arch is laid the roof, consisting of stone slabs one
foot broad, two inches thick, and about half the length of the room, one
end resting upon short projecting stones in the walls, and the other
upon the top of the arch. The slabs are in general laid close to each
other; but in some houses I observed that the roof was formed of two
layers, the one next the arch having small intervals between each slab,
and a second layer of similar dimensions was laid close together at
right angles with the first. The rooms are seldom higher than nine or
ten feet, and have no other opening than a low door, with sometimes a
small window over it. In many places I saw two or three of these arched
chambers one above the other, forming so many stories. This substantial
mode of building prevails also in most of the ancient public edifices
remaining in the Haouran, except that in the latter the arch, instead of
springing from the walls or floor, rests upon two short columns. During
the whole of my tour, I saw but one or two arches, whose curve was
lofty; the generality of them, including those in the public buildings,
are oppressively low. To complete the durability of these structures,
most of the doors were anciently of stone, and of these many are still
remaining; sometimes they are of one piece and sometimes they are
folding doors; they turn upon hinges worked out of the stone, and are
about four [p.59]inches thick, and seldom higher than about four feet,
though I met with some upwards of nine feet in height.

I remained at Ezra, in the priest's house, this and the following day,
occupied in examining the antiquities of the village. The most
considerable ruins stand to the S.E. of the present habitations; but few
of the buildings on that side have resisted the destructive hand of
time. The walls, however, of most of them yet remain, and there are the
remains of a range of houses which, to judge from their size and
solidity, seem to have been palaces. The Ezra people have given them the
appellation of Seraye Malek el Aszfar, or the Palace of the Yellow King,
a term given over all Syria, as I have observed in another place, to the
Emperor of Russia. The aspect of these ruins, and of the surrounding
rocky country of the Ledja, is far from being pleasing: the Ledja
presents a level tract covered with heaps of black stones, and small
irregular shaped rocks, without a single agreeable object for the eye to
repose upon. On the west and north sides of the village are several
public edifices, temples, churches, &c. The church of St. Elias
[Arabic], in which the Greeks celebrate divine service, is a round
building, of which the roof is fallen in, and only the outer wall
standing. On its S. side is a vestibule supported by three arches, the
entrance to which is through a short arched dark passage. Over the
entrance is the following inscription:

[Greek]

Over a small side gate I observed the following words:

[Greek]

[p.60] On the arch of the entrance alley,

[Greek]

On the outer wall, on the north side of the rotunda;

[Greek]

On the south side of the village stands an edifice, dedicated to St.
Georgius, or El Khouder [Arabic], as the Mohammedans, and sometimes the
Christians, call that Saint. It is a square building of about eighty-
five feet the side, with a semicircular projection on the E. side; the
roof is vaulted, and is supported by eight square columns, which stand
in a circle in the centre of the square, and are united to one another
by arches. They are about two feet thick, and sixteen high, with a
single groove on each side. Between the columns and the nearest part of
the wall is  a space of twelve feet. The niche on the east side contains
the altar. The vaulted roof is of modern construction. The building had
two entrances; of which the southern is entirely walled up; the western
also is closed at the top, leaving a space below for a stone door of six
feet high, over which is a broad stone with the following inscription
upon it:

[Greek]

[p.61] [Greek] [A.D. 410. This was the third year of the Emperor
Theodosius the younger, in whose reign the final decrees were issued
against the Pagan worship. It appears from the inscription that the
building upon which it is written was an ancient temple, converted into
a church of St. George. Editor.]

Before the temple is a small paved yard, now used as the exclusive
burial ground of the Greek priests of Ezra.

In the midst of the present inhabited part of the village stand the
ruins of another large edifice; it was formerly applied to Christian
worship, and subsequently converted into a mosque: but it has long since
been abandoned. It consists of a quadrangle, with two vaulted colonnades
at the northern and southern ends, each consisting of a double row of
five columns. In the middle of the area stood a parallel double range of
columns of a larger size, forming a colonnade across the middle of the
building; the columns are of the Doric order, and about sixteen feet
high. The side arcades are still standing to half their height; those of
the middle area are lying about in fragments; the E. and W. walls of the
building are also in ruins. Over the entrance gate are three inscribed
tablets, only one of which, built upside down in the wall, is legible;
it is as follows:

[Greek]

Over an inner gate I saw an inscription, much defaced, which seemed to
be in Syrian characters.

Adjoining this building stands a square tower, about fifty feet high;
its base is somewhat broader than its top. I frequently saw

[p.62]similar structures in the Druse villages; and in Szannamein are
two of the same form as the above: they all have windows near the
summit; in some, there is one window on each side, in others there are
two, as in this at Ezra. They have generally several stories of vaulted
chambers, with a staircase to ascend into them.

To the E. of the village is the gateway of another public building, the
interior of which has been converted into private dwellings; this
building is in a better style than those above described, and has some
trifling sculptured ornaments on its gate. On the wall on the right side
of the gate is this inscription.

[Greek]

There are many private habitations, principally at the S. end of the
town, with inscriptions over the doors; most of which are illegible. The
following I found in different parts of the village, on stones lying on
the ground, or built into the walls of houses.

Over the entrance of a sepulchral apartment,

[Greek]

[p.63]I observed a great difference in the characters in which all the
above inscriptions were engraved. That of S. Georgius is the best
written.

In the evening I went to water my horse with the priest's cattle at the
spring of Geratha, one hour distant from Ezra, N. by E. I met there a
number of shepherds with theyr flocks; the rule is, that the first who
arrives at the well, waters his cattle before the others; several were
therefore obliged to wait till after sunset. There are always some stone
basins round the wells, out of which the camels drink, the water being
drawn up by leathern buckets, and poured into them: disputes frequent1y
happen on these occasions. The well has a broad staircase leading down
to it; just by it lies a stone with an inscription, of which I could
make out only the following letters

[Greek]

This well is called Rauad.

November 12th.--I left Ezra with the Greek priest, to visit the villages
towards the mountain of the Haouran. I had agreed to pay him by the day,
but I soon had reason to repent of this arrangement. In order to
protract my journey, and augment the number of days,

KERATHA.

[p.64]he loaded his horse with all his church furniture, and at almost
every village where we alighted he fitted up a room, and said mass; I
was, in consequence, seldom able to leave my night's quarters before
mid-day, and as the days were now short our day's journey was not more
than four or five hours. His description of me to the natives varied
with circumstances; sometimes I was a Greek lay brother, sent to him by
the Patriarch, a deception which could not be detected by my dress, as
the priesthood is not distinguished by any particular dress, unless it
be the blue turban, which they generally wear; sometimes he described me
as a physician who was in search of herbs; and occasionally he owned
that my real object was to examine the country. Our road lay S.E. upon
the borders of the stony district called Ledja; and at the end of two
hours we passed the village of Bousser [Arabic] on our left, which is
principally inhabited by Druses; it lies in the War, and contains the
Turkish place of pilgrimage, called Meziar Eliashaa. Near it, to the S.
is the small village Kherbet Hariri. In one hour we passed Baara, a
village under the control of the Sheikh of Ezra; and at half an hour
farther to our right, the village Eddour [Arabic]. The Wady Kanouat, a
torrent which takes its rise in the mountain, passes Baara, where it
turns several mills in the winter season; towards the end of May it is
generally dried up. At one hour from Baara is the Ain Keratha, or
Geratha, according to Bedouin and Haouran pronunciation [Arabic]. At the
foot of a hill in the War are several wells; this hill is covered with
the ruins of the ancient city of Keratha, of which the foundations only
remain: there had been such a scarcity of water this year, that the
people of Bousser were obliged to fetch it from these wells. A quarter
of an hour E. of them is the village Nedjran [Arabic], in the Ledja, in
which are several ancient buildings inhabited by Druses. In the Ledja,
in the neighbourhood of Keratha,

MEDJEL.

[p.65]are many spots of arable ground. Upon a low hill, in our route, at
an hour and a quarter from the Ain or well, is Deir el Khouat [Arabic],
i.e. the Brothers' Monastery, a heap of ruins. From thence we travelled
to the south-eastward for three quarters of an hour, to the village
Sedjen [Arabic], where we alighted, at the house of the only Christian
family remaining among the Druses of the place. Sedjen is built, like
all these ancient towns, entirely of the black stone peculiar to these
mountains.

November 13th.--We left Sedjen about noon; and in half an hour came to
the spring Mezra [Arabic], the water of which is conducted near to
Sedjen by an ancient canal, which empties itself in the summer time into
a large pond; in the winter the stream is joined by a number of small
torrents, which descend from the Djebel Haouran between Kanouat and
Soueida; it empties itself farther to the west into the Wady Kanouat.
Above the spring is a ruined castle, and near it several other large
buildings, of which the walls only are standing; the castle was most
probably built to protect the water. There is a tradition that Tamerlane
filled up the well; and a similar story is repeated in many parts of the
Haouran: it is said that he threw quick-silver into the springs, which
prevented the water from rising to the surface; and that the water
collecting under ground from several sources near Mezerib, at length
burst forth, and formed the copious spring at that place, called Bushe.
From Mezra to Medjel we travelled E.N.E. one hour. It rained the whole
day. On arriving at Medjel I alighted to copy some inscriptions, when
the Druse Sheikh immediately sent for me, to know what I was about. It
is a general opinion with these people that inscriptions indicate hidden
treasure; and that by reading or copying them a knowledge is obtained
where the treasure lies. I often combated this opinion with success, by
simply asking them,

[p.66]whether, if they chose to hide their money under ground, they
would be so imprudent as to inform strangers where it lay? The opinion,
however, is too strongly rooted in the minds of many of the country
people, to yield to argument; and this was the case with the Sheikh of
Medjel. Having asked me very rudely what business I had, I presented to
him the Pasha's Bouyourdi; but of twenty people present no one could
read it; and when I had read it to them, they refused to believe that it
was genuine. While coffee was roasting I left the room, finished copying
some inscriptions, and rode off in a torrent of rain. On the left side
of a vaulted gate-way leading into a room in which are three receptacles
for the dead is this inscription:

[Greek].

And opposite to it, on the right side of the gate-way, in large
characters,

[Greek]

Over the eastern church, or mosque gate,

[Greek]

KAFER EL LOEHHA.

[p.67]On the northern church gate,

[Greek].

On two stones built into the wall of a house on the side of the road,
beyond the village,

[Greek]


There are two other buildings in the town, which I suppose to have been
sepulchral. In one of them is a long inscription, but the rain had made
it illegible. We rode on for three quarters of an hour farther to the
village Kafer el Loehha [Arabic], situated in the Wady Kanouat, on the
borders of the Ledja. I here passed a comfortable evening, in the
company of some Druses, who conversed freely with me, on their relations
with their own Sheikhs, and with the surrounding Arabs.

November 14th.--The principal building of Kafer el Loehha is

RIMA EL LOEHF.

[p.68]a church, whose roof is supported by three arches, which, like
those in the private dwellings, spring from the floor of the building.
Upon a stone lying near it I read [Greek]. Not far from the church, on
its west side, is another large edifice, with a rotunda, and a paved
terrace before it. Over the gateway, which is half buried, is the
following inscription:

[Greek]

From Kafer el Loehha we rode N. forty minutes, to a village called Rima
el Loehf, [Arabic] inhabited by only three or four Druse families. At
the entrance of the village stands a building eight feet square and
about twenty feet high, with a flat roof, and three receptacles for the
dead; it has no windows; at its four corners are pilasters. Over the
door is this inscription:

[Greek]

The walls of this apartment are hollow, as appears by several

DOUBBA.

[p.69] holes which have been made in them, in search of hidden treasure.
Beneath it is a subterraneous apartment, in which is a double row of
receptacles for the dead, three in each row, one above the other; each
receptacle is two feet high, and five feet and a half long. The door is
so low as hardly to allow a person to creep in.

I copied the following from a stone in an adjoining wall:

[Greek]

This village has two Birkets, or reservoirs for water, which are filled
in winter time by a branch of the Wady Kanouat; they were completely
dried up this summer, a circumstance which rarely happens. Near both the
Birkets are remains of strong walls. Upon an insulated hill three
quarters of an hour S.E. from Rima, is Deir el Leben [Aarabic], i.e.
Monastery of Milk; Rima is on the limits of the Ledja; Deir in the plain
between it and the mountain Haouran. The Deir consists of the ruins of a
square building seventy paces long, with small cells, each of which has
a door; it contained also several larger apartments, of which the arches
only remain. The roof of the whole building has fallen in. Over the door
of one of the cells I read the following inscription:

[Greek] [Hence it appears that Rima has preserved its ancient name. Ed.]

Half an hour E. of Deir el Leben lies a ruined, uninhabited village upon
a Tel, called Doubba [Arabic] it has a Birket and a

SHOHBA.

[p.70]spring. To the N.E. of it is the inhabited Druse village Bereike
[Arabic]. We advanced half an hour E. to the village Mourdouk [Arabic]
on the declivity of the Djebel Haouran; it has a spring, from whence the
Druses of Rima and Bereike obtain their daily supply of water. From the
spring we proceeded to the eastward on the side of the mountain. At our
feet extended the Ledja from between N.E.b.N. where it terminates, near
Tel Beidhan, to N.W. by N. its furthest western point, on the Haouran
side. Between the mountain and the Ledja is an intermediate plain of
about one hour in breadth, and for the greater part uncultivated. Before
us lay three insulated hills, called Tel Shiehhan, Tel Esszoub, which is
the highest, and Tel Shohba; they are distant from each other half an
hour, the second in the middle. One hour and a half to the S.E. of Tel
Shohba is one of the projecting summits of the mountain called Tel Abou
Tomeir.

From Mourdouk our road lay for an hour and a half over stony ground, to
Shohba [Arabic] the seat of the principal Druse Sheikhs, and containing
also some Turkish and Christian families. It lies near the foot of Tel
Shohba, between the latter and the mountain; it was formerly one of the
chief cities in these districts, as is attested by its remaining town
walls, and the loftiness of its public edifices. The walls may be traced
all round the city, and are perfect in many places; there are eight
gates, with a paved causeway leading from each into the town. Each gate
is formed of two arches, with a post in the centre. The eastern gate
seems to have been the principal one, and the street into which it opens
leads in a straight line through the town; like the other streets facing
the gates, it is paved with oblong flat stones, laid obliquely across it
with great regularity. Following this street through a heap of ruined
habitations on each side of it, where are many fragments of columns, I
came to a place where four massy cubical structures

[p.71]formed a sort of square, through which the street runs; they are
built with square stones, are twelve feet long by nine high, and, as
appears by one of them, which is partly broken down, are quite solid,
the centre being filled up with stones. Farther on to the right, upon a
terrace, stand five Corinthian columns, two feet and a quarter in
diameter, all quite entire. After passing these columns I came to the
principal building in this part of the town; it is in the form of a
crescent, fronting towards the east, without any exterior ornaments, but
with several niches in the front. I did not venture to enter it, as I
had a bad opinion of its present possessor, the chief of Shohba, who
some years ago compelled M. Seetzen to turn back from hence towards
Soueida. I remained unknown to the Druses during my stay at Shohba.
Before the above mentioned building is a deep and large reservoir, lined
with small stones. To the right of it stands another large edifice of a
square shape, built of massy stones, with a spacious gate; its interior
consists of a double range of vaults, one above the other, of which the
lower one is choaked up as high as the capitals of the columns which
support the arches. I found the following inscription upon an arch in
the upper story:

[Greek].

Beyond and to the left of this last mentioned building, in the same
street, is a vaulted passage with several niches on both sides of it,
and dark apartments, destined probably for the reception of the bodies
of the governors of the city. Farther on are the remaining walls of a
large building. Upon two stones, close to each other, and projecting
from the wall, I read the following inscriptions:

[p.72] On the first,

[Greek].

On the second,

[Greek].

To the west of the five Corinthian columns stands a small building,
which has been converted into a mosque; it contains two columns about
ten inches in diameter, and eight feet in height, of the same kind of
fine grained gray granite, of which I had seen several columns at Banias
in the Syrian mountains.

To the south of the crescent formed building, and its adjoining edifice,
stands the principal curiosity of Shohba, a theatre, in good
preservation. It is built on a sloping site, and the semicircle is
enclosed by a wall nearly ten feet in thickness, in which are nine
vaulted entrances into the interior. Between the wall and the seats runs
a double row of vaulted chambers one over the other. Of these the upper
chambers are boxes, opening towards the seats, and communicating behind
with a passage which separates them from the outer wall. The lower
chambers open into each other, those at the extremities of the semi-
circle excepted, which have openings towards the area of the theatre.
The entrance into the area is by three gates, one larger, with a smaller
on either side;

[p.73] on each side of the two latter are niches for statues. The
diameter of the area, near the entrance, is thirty paces; the circle
round the upper row of seats is sixty-four paces; there are ten rows of
seats. Outside the principal entrance is a wall, running parallel with
it, close to which are several small apartments.

To the S.E. of Shohba are the remains of an aqueduct, which conveyed
water into the town from a spring in the neighbouring mountain, now
filled up. About six arches are left, some of which are at least forty
feet in height. At the termination of this aqueduct, near the town, is a
spacious building divided into several apartments, of which that nearest
to the aqueduct is enclosed by a wall twelve feet thick, and about
twenty-five feet high; with a vaulted roof, which has fallen in. It has
two high vaulted entrances opposite to each other, with niches on each
side. In the walls are several channels from the roof to the floor, down
which the water from the aqueduct probably flowed. On one side of this
room is an entrance into a circular chamber fourteen feet in diameter;
and on the other is a similar apartment but of smaller dimensions, also
with channels in its walls; adjoining to this is a room without any
other opening than a very small door; its roof, which is still entire,
is formed of small stones cemented together with mortar; all the walls
are built of large square stones. The building seems evidently to have
been a bath.

On a stone built in the wall over the door of a private dwelling in the
town, I copied the following:

[Greek].

[p.74]

SHAKKA.

[Greek] [Legionis Decimae Flavianae Fortis. Ed.]

To the margin of the third line the following letters are annexed:

[Greek].

The inhabitants of Shohba fabricate cotton cloth for shirts and gowns.
They grow cotton, but it is not reckoned of good quality. There are only
three Christian families in the village. There are three large Birkets
or wells, in two of which there was still some water. There is no spring
near. Most of the doors of the houses, are formed of a single slab of
stone, with stone hinges.

November 15th.--Our way lay over the fertile and cultivated plain at the
foot of the Jebel Haouran, in a north-easterly direction. At a quarter
of an hour from the town we passed the Wady Nimri w-el Heif [Arabic], a
torrent coming from the mountain to the S.E. In the winter it furnishes
water to a great part of the Ledja, where it is collected in cisterns.
There is a great number of ruined mills higher up the Wady. Three or
four hours distant, we saw a high hill in the Djebel, called Um Zebeib
[Arabic]. Three quarters of an hour from Shohba we passed the village
Asalie [Arabic], inhabited by a few families; near it is a small Birket.
In one hour and three quarters we came to the village Shakka [Arabic];
on its eastern side stands an insulated building, consisting of a tower
with two wings: it contains throughout a double row of arches and the
tower has two stories, each of which forms a single chamber, without any
opening but the door. Upon the capital of a column is:

[Greek].

[p.75]Adjoining the village, on the eastern side, are the ruins of a
handsome edifice; it consists of an apartment fourteen paces square
opening into an arcade, which leads into another apartment similar to
the first. In the first, whose roof has fallen down, there are pedestals
for statues all round the walls. On one side are three dark apartments,
of which that in the centre is the largest; on the opposite side is a
niche. The entrance is towards the east. To the south of these ruins
stood another building, of which the front wall only is standing; upon a
stone, lying on the ground before the wall, and which was probably the
architrave of the door, I found the following inscription:

[Greek].

Opposite to these ruins I copied the following from a stone built in the
wall of one of the private dwellings:

[Greek]

and this from a stone in the court-yard of a peasant's house:

[Greek].

[p.76]On the north side of the village are the ruins also of what was
once an elegant structure; but nothing now remains except a part of the
front, and some arches in the interior. It is thirty paces in length,
with a flight of steps, of the whole length of the building, leading up
to it. The entrance is through a large door whose sides and architrave
are richly sculptured. On each side is a smaller door, between which and
the great door are two niches supported by Ionic pilasters, the whole
finely worked. Within are three aisles or rows of arches, of which the
central is much the largest; they rest upon short thick columns of the
worst taste.

At some distance to the north of the village stands a small insulated
tower; over its entrance are three inscriptions, of which I copied the
two following; the third I was unable to read, as the sun was setting
before I had finished the others:

1. [Greek].

[p.77]

2. [Greek]

EL HAIT

There are several similar towers in the village, but without
inscriptions.

The inhabitants of Shakka grow cotton; they are all Druses, except a
single Greek family. To the S.E. of the village is the spring Aebenni
[Arabic] with the ruined village Tefkha, about three quarters of an hour
distant from Shakka. E.b.N. from Shakka one hour lies Djeneine
[Arabic], the last inhabited village on this side towards the desert. Its
inhabitants are the shepherds of the people of El Hait. Half an hour to
the north of Djeneine is Tel-Maaz [Arabic], a hill on which is a ruined
village. This is the N.E. limit of the mountain, which here turns off
towards the S. behind Djeneine. At three quarters of an hour from
Shakka, N.N.W. is El Hait, inhabited entirely by Catholic Christians.
Here we slept. I copied the following inscriptions at El Hait:

From a stone in one of the streets of the village:

[Greek]

From a stone over the door of a private dwelling:

[Greek].

TEL SHOHBA.

[p.78]Upon a stone in the wall of another house, I found the figure of a
quadruped rudely sculptured in relief.

On the wall of a solid building are the two following inscriptions:

[Greek]

On the wall of another building:

[Greek]


East of El Hait three quarters of an hour lies the village Heitt
[Arabic].

November 16th.--We returned from Hait, directing our route towards Tel
Shiehhan. In one hour we passed the village of Ammera.

From Ammera our way lay direct towards Tel Shiehhan. The village Um
Ezzeitoun lay in the plain below, one hour distant, in the borders of
the Ledja. Upon the top of Tel Shiehhan is a Meziar. Tel Szomeit
[Arabic], a hill in the Ledja, was seen to the N.W. about three hours
distant; Tel Aahere [Arabic], also in the Ledja, to the west, about four
hours distant. The Tel Shiehhan is completely barren up to its top: near
its eastern foot we passed the Wady Nimri w-el Heif, close to a mill
which works in the winter

SOUEIDA.

[p.79]time. From hence we passed between the Tel Shiehhan and Tel Es-
Szoub; the ground is here covered with heaps of porous tufa and pumice
stone. The western side of the Tel Shohba seems to have been the crater
of a volcano, as well from the nature of the minerals which lie
collected on that side of the hill, as from the form of a part of the
hill itself, resembling a crater, while the neighbouring mountains have
rounded tops, without any sharp angles.

We repassed Ain Mourdouk, and continued our way on the sloping side of
the mountain to Saleim, a village one hour from the spring; it has been
abandoned by its former inhabitants, and is now occupied only by a few
poor Druses, who take refuge in such deserted places to avoid the
oppressive taxes; and thus sometimes escape the Miri for one year. They
here grow a little tobacco. In the village is a deep Birket. At the
entrance of Saleim are the ruins of a handsome oblong building, with a
rich entablature: its area is almost entirely filled up by its own
ruins. Just by is a range of subterraneous vaults. The Wady Kanouat
passes near the village. The day was now far gone, and as my priest was
afraid of travelling by night, we quickened our pace, in order to reach
Soueida before dark. From Saleim the road lies through a wood of stunted
oaks, which continues till within one hour of Soueida. We had rode three
quarters of an hour when I was shewn, E. from our road, up in the
mountain, half an hour distant, the ruins of Aatin [Arabic], with a Wady
of the same name descending into the plain below. In the plain, to the
westward, upon a hillock one hour distant, was the village Rima el
Khalkhal, or Rima el Hezam [Arabic] (Hezam means girdle, and Khalkhal,
the silver or glass rings which the children wear round their ankles.)
Our road from Saleim lay S. by E. over a stony uncultivated ground, till
within one hour of Soueida, where the wood of oaks terminates, and the
fields begins, which extend up

[p.80]the slope of the mountain for half an hour to the left of the
road. From Saleim to Soueida is a distance of two hours and three
quarters.

Soueida is situated upon high ground, on a declivity of the Djebel
Haouran; the Kelb Haouran, or highest summit of the mountain, bearing
S.E. from it. It is considered as the first Druse village, and is the
residence of the chief Sheikh. To the north, and close to it, descends
the deep Wady Essoueida, coming from the mountain, where several other
Wadys unite with it; it is crossed by a strong well built bridge, and it
turns five or six mills near the village. Here, as in all their
villages, the Druses grow a great deal of cotton, and the cultivation of
tobacco is general all over the mountain. Soueida has no springs, but
there are in and near it several Birkets, one of which, in the village,
is more than three hundred paces in circuit, and at least thirty feet
deep: a staircase leads down to the bottom, and it is entirely lined
with squared stones. To the S. of the village is another of still larger
circumference, but not so deep, also lined with stone, called Birket el
Hadj, from the circumstance of its having, till within the last century,
been a watering place for the Hadj, which used to pass here.

To the west of Soueida, on the other side of the Wady, stands a ruined
building, which the country people call Doubeise: it is a perfect square
of thirteen paces, with walls two feet thick, and ornamented on each
side with six Doric pilasters, sixteen spans high, and reaching to
within two feet of the roof, which has fallen down, and fills up the
interior. No door or opening of any kind is visible. On the wall between
the pilasters are some ornaments in bas-relief.

On the N. wall is the following inscription, in handsome characters;

[p.81] [Greek].

Soueida was formerly one of the largest cities of the Haouran; the
circuit of its ruins is at least four miles: amongst them is a street
running in a straight line, in which the houses on both sides are still
standing; I was twelve minutes in walking from one end to other. Like
the streets of modern cities in the East, this is so very narrow as to
allow space only for one person or beast to pass. On both sides is a
narrow pavement. The great variety seen in the the mode of construction
of the houses seems to prove that the town has been inhabited by people
of different nations. In several places, on both sides of the street,
are small arched open rooms, which I  supposed to have been shops. The
street commences in the upper part of the town, at a large arched gate
built across it; descending from thence I came to an elegant building,
in the shape of a crescent, the whole of whose front forms a kind of
niche, within which are three smaller niches; round the flat roof is
written in large characters:

[Greek].

On a stone lying upon the roof [Greek]. Continuing along the street I
entered, on the left, an edifice with four rows of arches, built with
very low pillars in the ugly style already described.

Upon a stone, built upside down in one of the interior walls, was this;

[Greek].

[p.82] [Greek] [The fourteenth Legion was surnamed Gemina. See several
inscriptions in Gruter. Ed.]

At the lower end of the street is a tower about thirty feet high, and
eighteen square.

Turning from the beginning of the street, to the south, I met with a
large building in ruins, with many broken pillars; it seems to have been
a church; and it is joined to another building which has the appearance
of having once been a monastery. In the paved area to the S. of it lies
a water trough, formed of a single stone, two feet and a half in
breadth, and seven feet in length, ornamented with four busts in relief,
whose heads have been knocked off.

In a stony field about three hundred yards S. of the Sheikh's house, I
found engraved upon a rock:

[Greek].

KANOUAT.

[p.83]Round a pedestal, which now serves to support one of the columns
in the front of the Sheikh's house, is the following: [Greek]. On the
side of the pedestal is a figure of a bird with expanded wings, about
one foot high, and below it is a man's hand grasping at something.

Near the Sheikh's house stands a colonnade of Corinthian columns, which
surrounded a building, now entirely in ruins, but which appears to have
been destined for sepulchres, as there are some small arched doors,
quite choaked up, leading to subterraneous apartments.

November 17th.--We rode to the ruined city called Kanouat [Arabic], two
hours to the N.E. of Soueida; the road lying through a forest of stunted
oaks and Zarour trees, with a few cultivated fields among them. Kanouat
is situated upon a declivity, on the banks of the deep Wady Kanouat,
which flows through the midst of the town, and whose steep banks are
supported by walls in several places. To the S.W. of the town is a
copious spring. On approaching Kanouat from the side of Soueida, the
first object that struck my attention was a number of high columns, upon
a terrace, at some distance from the town; they enclosed an oblong
square fifteen paces in breadth, by twenty-nine in length. There were
originally six columns on one side, and seven on the other, including
the corner columns in both numbers; at present six only remain, and the
bases of two others; they are formed of six pieces of stone, and measure
from the top of the pedestal to the base of the capital twenty-six feet;
the height of the pedestal is five feet; the circumference of the column
six feet. The capitals are elegant, and well finished. On the northern
side was an

[p.84]inner row of columns of somewhat smaller dimensions than the outer
row; of these one only is standing. Within the square of columns is a
row of subterraneous apartments. These ruins stand upon a terrace ten
feet high, on the N. side of which is a broad flight of steps. The
pedestals of all the columns had inscriptions upon them; but nothing can
now be clearly distinguished except [Greek] upon one of them.

Two divisions of the town may be distinguished, the upper, or principal,
and the lower. The whole ground upon which the ruined habitations stand
is overgrown with oak trees, which hide the ruins. In the lower town,
over the door of an edifice which has some arches in its interior, and
which has been converted in modern times into a Greek church, is an
inscription, in which the words [Greek] only, were distinguishable.

A street leads up to this building, paved with oblong flat stones placed
obliquely across the road in the same manner which I have described at
Shohba. Here are several other buildings with pillars and arches: the
principal of them has four small columns in front of the entrance and an
anti-room leading to an inner apartment, which is supported by five
arches. The door of the anti-room is of one stone, as usual in this
country, but it is distinguished by its sculptured ornaments. A stone in
this building, lying on the ground, is thus inscribed: [xxxxx].

[p.85]The principal building of Kanouat is in the upper part of the
town, on the banks of the Wady. The street leading up to it lies along
the deep bed of the Wady, and is paved throughout; on the side opposite
to the precipice are several small vaulted apartments with doors. The
entrance of the building is on the east side, through a wide door
covered with a profusion of sculptured ornaments. In front of this door
is a vestibule supported by five columns, whose capitals are of the
annexed form. This vestibule joins, towards the north, several other
apartments; their roofs, some of which were supported by pillars, have
now all fallen down. The abovementioned wide door opens into the
principal apartment of the edifice, which is twenty-two paces in breadth
by twenty-five in length. From each side of the entrance, through the
middle of the room, runs a row of seven pillars, like those described
above; at the further end, this colonnade is terminated by two
Corinthian columns. All the sixteen columns are twenty spans high, with
pedestals two feet and a half high. In the wall on the left side of this
saloon are three niches, supported by short pillars. To the west is
another vestibule, which was supported by five Corinthian columns, but
four of them only are now standing. This vestibule communicates through
an arched gate with an area, on the W. side of which are two Corinthian
pillars with projecting bases for statues. On the S. side of the area is
a large door, with a smaller one on each side. That in the centre is
covered with sculptured vines and grapes, and over the entrance is the
figure of the cross in the midst of a bunch of grapes. I observed
similar ornaments on the great gate at Shakka, and I have often seen
them since, over the entrances of public edifices. In the interior of
the area, on the E. side, is a niche sixteen feet deep, arched at the
bottom, with small vaulted rooms on both its sides, in which there is no
other opening than the low door.

KANOUAT.

[p.86]On the S. and W. sides, the building is enclosed by a large paved
area.

At a short distance from thence is another building, whose entrance is
through a portico consisting of four columns in front and of two others
behind, between two wings; on the inner sides of which are two niches
above each other. The columns are about thirty-five feet high, and three
feet and a half in diameter. Part of the walls only of the building are
standing. In the wall opposite the entrance are two niches, one above
the other. Not far from this building, toward its western side, I found,
lying upon the ground, the trunk of a female statue of very inelegant
form and coarse execution; my companion the priest spat upon it, when I
told him that such idols were anciently objects of adoration; by its
side lay a well executed female foot. I may here mention for the
information of future travellers in these parts, that on my return to
Soueida, I was told that there was a place near the source of spring
water, where a great number of figures of men, women, beasts, and men
riding naked on horses, &c. were lying upon the ground.

Besides the buildings just mentioned, there are several towers with two
stories upon arches, standing insulated in different parts of the town;
in one of them I observed a peculiarity in the structure of its walls,
which I had already seen at Hait, and which I afterwards met with in
several other places; the stones are cut so as to dovetail, and fit very
closely.

The circuit of this ancient city may be about two miles and a half or
three miles. From the spring there is a beautiful view into the plain of
the Haouran, bounded on the opposite side by the mountain of the Heish,
now covered with snow. There were only

EZZEHOUE.

[p.87]two Druse families at Kanouat, who were occupied in cultivating a
few tobacco fields. I returned to Soueida by the same road which I had
come.

November 18th.--After having made the tour of the city, I took coffee at
the house of the Sheikh, whose brother and sons received me very
politely, and I visited some sick people in the village,--for I was
continually pressed, wherever I went, to write receipts for the sick,--I
then left Soueida, with the intention of sleeping the following night in
some Arab tent in the mountain, where I wished to see some ruined
villages. The priest's fear of catching cold prevented me from
proceeding according to my wishes. Passing the Birket el Hadj, we
arrived in an hour and a quarter at a miserable village called Erraha
[Arabic]; twenty minutes farther we passed the Wady el Thaleth [Arabic],
so called from three Wadys which, higher up, in the mountain unite into
one. Here were pointed out to me, at half an hour to the N.E. on the
side of the Wady in the mountain, the spring called Ain Kerashe, and at
half an hour's distance, in the plain, the Druse village Resas. In a
quarter of an hour from Thaleth,  we reached Kherbet Rishe, a ruined
village, and in one hour more Ezzehhoue [Arabic], where my companion
insisted upon taking shelter from the rain.

November 19th.--A rivulet passes Ezzehhoue, called Ain Ettouahein
[Arabic]; i.e. the Source of the Mills, which comes down from Ain Mousa,
the spring near Kuffer, and flows towards Aaere. Ezzehhoue is a Druse
village, with a single Christian family. I was not well received by the
Druse Sheikh, a boy of sixteen years, although he invited me to
breakfast with him; but I was well treated by the poor Christian family.
When I left the village there was a rumor amongst the Druses, that I
should not be permitted to depart, or if I was, that I should be waylaid
on the road, but neither happened. The people of the village make coffee
mortars out of

AAERE.

[p.88]the trunks of oak trees, which they sell at twenty and twenty-five
piastres each, and export them over the whole of the Haouran. At three
quarters of an hour from Ezzehhoue, to the left of our route, is the Tel
Ettouahein, an insulated hill in the plain, into which the road descends
at a short distance from the village. Near the hill passes the Wady
Ezzehhoue, a winter torrent which descends from the mountain. Two hours
from Ezzehhoue is Aaere [Arabic], a village standing upon a Tel in the
plain.

Aaere is the seat of the second chief of the Druses in the Haouran: he
is one of the most amiable men I have met with in the East, and what is
still more extraordinary, he is extremely desirous to acquire knowledge.
In the conversations I had with him during my repeated visits at Aaere,
he was always most anxious to obtain information concerning European
manners and institutions. He begged me one day to write down for him the
Greek, English, and German alphabets, with the corresponding sound in
Arabic beneath each letter; and on the following day he shewed me the
copy he had taken of them. His kindness towards me was the more
remarkable, as he could not expect the smallest return for it. He
admired my lead pencils, of which I had two, but refused to accept one
of them, on my offering it to him. These Druses, as well as those of
Kesrouan, firmly believe that there are a number of Druses in England; a
belief originating in the declaration of the Christians in these
countries, that the English are neither Greeks, nor Catholics, and
therefore not Christians.

Upon a stone in the village I copied the following;

[xxxxx].

November 20th.--Being desirous of visiting the parts of the Haouran
bordering upon the desert, of crossing the Djebel Haouran, or
mountainous part of the district, and of exploring several ruined

HEBRAN.

[p.89]cities which I had heard of in the desert, I engaged, with the
Sheikh's permission, two Druses and a Christian, to act as guides. As
there was considerable risque of meeting with some hostile tribe of
Arabs on the road, I gave my purse to the Greek priest, who promised to
wait for my return; he did not keep his word, however, for he quitted
Aaere, taking my money with him, no doubt in the view of compelling me
to follow him to his village, from whence he might again have a chance
of obtaining a daily allowance, by accompanying me, though he well knew
that it was my intention to return to Damascus by a more western route;
nor was this all, he took twenty piastres out of my purse to buy straw
for his camels. On his repeatedly confessing to me, afterwards, his
secret wishes that some Frank nation would invade and take possession of
the country, I told him that he would by no means be a gainer by such an
event, as a trick such as that he had played me would expose him to be
turned out of his living and thrown into a prison. "You must imprison
all the people of the country then," was his reply; and he spoke the
truth. I have often reflected that if the English penal laws were
suddenly promulgated in this country, there is scarcely any man in
business, or who, has money-dealings with others, who would not be found
liable to transportation before the end of the first six months.

Our road lay over the plain, E.N.E. for three quarters of an hour; we
then began to mount by a slight ascent. In an hour and a quarter we came
to two hills, with the ruins of a village called Medjmar [Arabic], on
the right of the road. At a quarter of an hour from thence is the
village Afine [Arabic], in which are about twenty-five Druse families;
it has a fine spring. Here the ascent becomes more steep. At one hour
from Afine, E.b.S. upon the summit of the lower mountain, stands Hebran
[Arabic]. Here is a spring and a ruined church, with the foundations

KUFFER.

[p.90]of another building near it. Withinside the gate is the following
inscription:

[Greek].

On the eastern outer wall:

[Greek].

In a ruined building, with arches, in the lower town;

[xxxxx].

Upon a stone over a door, in a private house:

[Greek].

The mountain upon which Hebran stands is stony, but has places fit for
pasturage. The plain to the S. is called Amman, in which is a spring.
That to the E. is called Zauarat, and that to the S.W. Merdj el Daulet;
all these plains are level grounds, with several hillocks, and are
surrounded by mountains.

There are a few families at Hebran.

Proceeding from Hebran towards the Kelb (dog), or, as the Arabs here
call it, Kelab Haouran, in one houre we came to Kuffer [Arabic], once a
considerable town. It is built in the usual style of this country,
entirely of stone; most of the houses are still entire; the doors are
uniformly of stone, and even the gates of the town, between nine and ten
feet high, are of a single piece of stone. On each side

[p.91]of the streets is a foot pavement two feet and a half broad, and
raised one foot above the level of the street itself, which is seldom
more than one yard in width. The town is three quarters of an hour in
circumference, and being built upon a declivity, a person may walk over
it upon the flat roofs of the houses; in the court-yards of the houses
are many mulberry trees. Amongst several arched edifices is one of
somewhat larger dimensions, with a steeple, resembling that at Ezra; in
the paved court-yard lies an urn of stone. In later times this building
had been a mosque, as is indicated by several Arabic inscriptions. In
the wall within the arched colonnade is a niche elegantly adorned with
sculptured oak-leaves.

We dined in the church, upon the Kattas [Arabic] which my guides had
killed. These birds, which resemble pigeons, are in immense numbers
here; but I found none of them in the eastern parts of the Djebel
Haouran.

To the N.E. of Kutfer is the copious spring already mentioned, called
Ain Mousa, the stream from which, we had passed at Ezzehhoue. There is a
small building over it, on which are these letters:

[Greek].

We arrived, after sunset, in one hour from Kuffer, at an encampment of
Arabs Rawafie, immediately at the foot of the Kelab; and there took up
our quarters for the night. The tent of our host was very neat, being
formed with alternate white and black Shoukes, or cloth made of goat's
hair. I here found the Meharem to the right of the man's apartment. We
were treated as usual with coffee and Feita. I had been rather feverish
during the whole day, and in the evening the symptoms increased, but,
cold as the night was, and more especially on the approach of morning

Wady Awairid.

[p.92]when the fire which is kept up till midnight gradually dies out, I
found myself completely recovered the next day. This encampment
consisted of ten or twelve tents, in the midst of the forest which
surrounds the Kelab.

November 21st.--The Kelab is a cone rising from the lower ridge of the
mountains; it is barren on the S. and E. sides, but covered on the N.
and W. with the trees common to these mountains. I was told that in
clear weather the sea is visible from its top, the ascent to which, from
the encampment, was said to be one hour. The morning was beautiful but
very cold, the whole mountain being covered with hoar frost. We set off
at sun-rise, and rode through the forest one hour, when we breakfasted
at an encampment of Arabs Shennebele, in the midst of the wood. From
thence I took two Arabs, who volunteered their services, to guide me
over the mountains into the eastern plain. We soon reached the
termination of the forest, and in half an hour passed the Merdj el
Kenttare [Arabic], a fine meadow (where the young grass had already made
its appearance), in the midst of the rocky mountain, which has no wood
here. A rivulet called El Keine [Arabic], whose source is a little
higher up in the mountain, flows through the meadow. Three quarters of
an hour farther, and to the right of the road, upon a hill distant half
an hour, are the ruins of the village El Djefne; to the left, at the
same distance, is Tel Akrabe. We passed many excellent pasturing places,
where the Arabs of the mountain feed their cattle in the spring; but the
mountain is otherwise quite barren. Half an hour farther, descending the
mountain, we passed Wady Awairid [Arabic], whose torrent, in winter,
flows as far as Rohba, a district so called, where is a ruined city of
the same name, on the eastern limits of the Szaffa.[The Szaffa [Arabic]
is a stony district, much resembling the Ledja, with this difference,
that the rocks with which it is covered are considerably larger,
although the whole may be said to be even ground. It is two or three
days in circumference, and is the place of refuge of the Arabs who fly
from the Pasha's troops, or from their enemies in the desert. The Szaffa
has no springs; the rain water is collected in cisterns. The only
entrance is through a narrow pass, called Bab el Szaffa, a cleft,
between high perpendicular rocks, not more than two yards in breadth,
which one ever dared to enter as an enemy. If a tribe of Arabs intend to
remain a whole year in the Szaffa, they sow wheat and barley on the
spots fit for cultivation on its precincts. On its E. limits are the
ruined villages of Boreisie, Oedesie, and El Koneyse. On its western
side this district is called El Harra, a term applied by the Arabs to
all tracts which are covered with small stones, being derived from Harr,
i.e. heat (reflected from the ground.)] Our route lay to the north-east;
we

ZAELE.

[p.93]descended by the banks of the Wady into the plain, and at a short
distance from where the Wady enters it, arrived at Zaele [Arabic] in two
hours and three quarters from the Arab encampment where we had
breakfasted.

Zaele owes its origin to the copious spring which rises there, and which
renders it, in summer time, a much frequented watering place of the
Arabs. The ruined city which stands near the spring is half an hour in
circuit; it is built like all those of the mountain, but I observed that
the stone doors were particularly low, scarcely permitting one even to
creep in. A cupola once stood over the spring, and its basin was paved.
I found the following inscription upon a stone lying there:

[Greek].

And another above the spring, upon a terrace adjoining the ruins of a
church:

[Greek].

The spring of Zaele flows to the S.E. and loses itself in the plain.

[p.94]One hour and a half to the eastward of Zaele stands Tel Shaaf
[Arabic], with a ruined city. E. four hours, Melleh [Arabic], a ruined
city in the plain; and upon a Tel near it, Deir el Nuzrany. The plain,
for two hours from Zaele, is called El Haoui. Towards the E. and S.E. of
Zaele are the following ruined places: Boussan [Arabic], at the foot of
the mountain; Khadera [Arabic]; Aans [Arabic], Om Ezzeneine [Arabic];
Kherbet Bousrek [Arabic]; Habake [Arabic].

The great desert extends to the N.E.E., and S.E. of Zaele; to the
distance of three days journey eastward, there is still a good arable
soil, intersected by numerous Tels, and covered with the ruins of so
many cities and villages, that, as I was informed, in whatever direction
it is crossed, the traveller is sure to pass, in every day, five or six
of these ruined places. They are all built of the same black rock of
which the Djebel consists. The name of the desert changes in every
district; and the whole is sometimes called Telloul, from its Tels or
hillocks. Springs are no where met with in it, but water is easily found
on digging to the depth of three or four feet. At the point where this
desert terminates, begins the sandy desert called El Hammad [Arabic],
which extends on one side to the banks of the Euphrates, and on the
other to the N. of Wady Serethan, as far as the Djof.

I wished to proceed to Melleh, but my Druse companions were not to be
prevailed upon, through fear of the Arabs Sheraka, a tribe of the Arabs
Djelaes, who were said to be in that neighbourhood. We herefore
recrossed the mountain from Zaele, and passed its south-eastern corner,
on which there are no trees, but many spots of excellent pasture. In two
hours from Zaele we came to a spring called Ras el Beder [Arabic], i.e.
the Moon's Head, whose waters flow down into the plain as far as Boszra.
From the spring we redescended, and reached Zahouet el Khudher [Arabic],
a ruined city, standing in a Wady, at a short distance from the

ZAHOUET EL KHUDHER.

[p.95]plain. One hour from these ruins a rivulet called Moiet Maaz
[Arabic] passes through the valley, whose source is to the N.W. up in
the mountain, one hour distant, near a ruined place called Maaz. This is
a very romantic, secluded spot; immediately behind the town the valley
closes, and a row of willows, skirting both banks of the rivulet in its
descent, agreeably surprise the traveller, who rarely meets in these
districts with trees raised by the labour of man; but it is probable
that these willows will not long withstand the destroying hands of the
Arabs: fifteen years ago there was a larger plantation here, which was
cut down for fire wood; and every summer many of the trees share the
same fate.

Zahouet el Khudher was formerly visited by the Christians of the
Haouran, for the purpose of offering up their prayers to the Khudher, or
St. George, to whom a church in the bottom of the valley is dedicated.
The Turks also pay great veneration to this Saint, so much so that a few
goats-hair mats, worth five or six piastres, which are left on the floor
of the sanctuary of the church, are safe from the robbers. My Druse
guides carried them to a house in the town, to sleep upon; but returned
them carefully on the following morning. The Arabs give the name of Abd
Maaz to St. George. The church has a ruined cupola. On the outer door is
this inscription:

[Greek].

On an arch in the vestibule

[xxxxx].

ARD AASZAF.

[p.96] Within the church:

[Greek].


Upon elevated ground on the W. side of the Wady stands the small ruined
town of Zahouet, with a castle on the summit of the hill. I could find
no legible inscriptions there.

We had reached Zahouet after sunset; and the dread of Arabs, who very
frequently visit this place, made us seek for a night's shelter in the
upper part of the town, where we found a comfortable room, and lighted a
still more comfortable fire. We had tasted nothing since our breakfast;
and my guides, in the full confidence of meeting with plenty of Kattas
and partridges on our road, had laid in a very small provision of bread
on setting out, but had brought a sack of flour mixed with salt, after
the Arab fashion. Unluckily, we had killed only two partridges during
the day, and seen no Kattas; we therefore had but a scanty supper.
Towards midnight we were alarmed by the sound of persons breaking up
wood to make a fire, and we kept upon our guard till near sun-rise, when
we proceeded, and saw upon the wet ground the traces of men and dogs,
who had passed the night in the church, probably as much in fear of
strangers as we were ourselves.

November 22d.--I took a view of the town, after which we descended into
the plain, called here Ard Aaszaf [Arabic], from a Tel named Aazaf, at
half an hour from the Khudher. The abundant rains had already covered
the plain with rich verdure. Our way lay S. At the end of an hour and a
quarter we saw to our left, one mile distant from the road, a ruined
castle upon a Tel called Keres [Arabic]; close to our road was a low
Birket. To the

AYOUN.

[p.97]right, three or four miles off, upon another Tel, stands the
ruined castle El Koueires [Arabic]. From Keres to Ayoun [Arabic], two
hours distant from Zahouet el Khudher, the ground is covered with walls,
which probably once enclosed orchards and well cultivated fields. At
Ayoun are about four hundred houses without any inhabitants. On its west
side are two walled-in springs, from whence the name is derived. It
stands at the eastern foot of the Szfeikh [Arabic] a hill so called, one
hour and a half in length. I saw in the town four public edifices, with
arches in their interior; one of them is distinguished by the height and
fine curve of the arches, as well as by the complete state of the whole
building. Its stone roof has lost its original black colour, and now
presents a variety of hues, which on my entering surprised me much, as I
at first supposed it to be painted. The door is ornamented with grapes
and vine leaves. There is another large building, in which are three
doors, only three feet high; over one of them are these letters:
[xxxxx].

Over an arch in its interior is this:

[Greek].

From Ayoun ruined walls of the same kind as those we met with in
approaching Ayoun extend as far as Oerman [Arabic], distant one hour and
a half, in the open plain. Oerman is an ancient city, somewhat larger
than Ayoun. In it are three towers, or steeples, built in the usual
mode, which I have described at Kuffer. On the walls of a miserable
building adjoining the S. side of the town are the following six
inscribed tablets, built into the wall; the second is inverted, a proof
that they have been placed in this situation by modern barbarians as
ornaments:

OERMAN.

[p.98]

1. [Greek].

2. [Greek].

3. [Greek].

4. [Greek].

5. [Greek].

[p.99] [Greek].

Between the first and second inscriptions is a niche in the wall, about
four feet high; resembling the annexed figure: [xxxxx].

Over a door in the western part of the town is the following:

[Greek].

Oerman has a spring; but my guides, afraid of prolonging our stay in
these desert parts, denied its existence when I enquired for it. I was
informed afterwards that a large stone, on which is an inscription, lies
near it. There are also several Birkets.

From Oerman we proceeded one hour and a quarter, to the town and castle
called Szalkhat [Arabic]: the intermediate country is full of ruined
walls. The soil of the desert, as well here

SZALKHAT.

[p.100]as between Zahouet and Oerman, is black; and, notwithstanding the
abundant rains, the ground was intersected in every direction by large
fissures caused by the summer heat. The castle of Szalkhat is situated
upon a hill at the southern foot of the Szfeikh. The town, which
occupies the south and west foot of the castle hill, is now uninhabited;
but fifteen years since a few Druse and Christian families were
established here, as well as at Oerman: the latter retired to Khabeb,
where I afterwards saw them, and where they are still called Szalkhalie.
The town contains upwards of eight hundred houses, but presents nothing
worthy of observation except a large mosque, with a handsome Madene or
Minaret; the mosque was built in the year 620 of the Hedjra, or A.D.
1224, as appears from an inscription upon it; the Minaret is only two
hundred years old. But even the mosque seems to have been nothing more
than a repaired temple or church, as there are several well wrought
niches in its outer walls: and the interior is vaulted, with arches
supported by low pillars similar to those which have been before
described. Several stones are lying about, with Greek inscriptions; but
all so much defaced as to be no longer legible. Within the mosque lies a
large stone with a fleur-de-lis cut upon it. In the court-yards of the
houses of the town are a great number of fig and pomegranate trees; the
former were covered with ripe fruit, and as we had tasted nothing this
day but dry flour, we made a hearty dinner of the figs. There is no
spring either in the castle or town of Szalkhat, but every house has a
deep cistern lined with stone; there is also a large Birket.

The castle stands upon the very summit of the hill, and forms a complete
circle; it is a very commanding position, and of the first importance as
a defence of the Haouran against the Arabs. It is surrounded by a deep
ditch, which separates the top of the hill

[p.101]from the part immediately below it. I walked round the outside of
the ditch in twelve minutes. The upper hill, except in places where the
rock is firm, is paved with large flat stones, similar to those of the
castle of Aleppo: a number of these stones, as well as parts of the
wall, have fallen down, and in many places have filled up the ditch to
half its depth. I estimated the height of the paved upper hill to be
sixty yards. A high arched bridge leads over the ditch into the castle.
The wall of the castle is of moderate thickness, flanked all round by
towers and turrets pierced with numerous loop holes, and is constructed
of small square stones, like some of the eastern walls of Damascus. Most
of the interior apartments of the castle are in complete ruins; in
several of them are deep wells. On entering I observed over the gate a
well sculptured eagle with expanded wings; hard by, on the left of the
entrance, are two capitals of columns, placed one upon the other, each
adorned with four busts in relief projecting from a cluster of palm
leaves. The heads of the busts are wanting; the sculpture is
indifferent. A covered way leads from the inside of the gateway into the
interior; of this I took a very cursory view, as the day was near
closing, and my companions pressed me very much to depart, that we might
reach a village three hours distant; there being no water here for my
horse, I the more readily complied with their wishes. Over the entrance
of a tower in the interior I read these two lines:

[Arabic].

"In the name of God, the merciful and the munificent. During the reign
of the equitable king Saad-eddin Abou-takmar, the Emir--- ordered the
building of this castle;" which makes it probable that it was erected
for the defence

ABD MAAZ.

[p.102]of the country against the Crusaders. In one of the apartments I
found, just appearing above the earth, the upper part of a door built of
calcareous stone, a material which I have not met with in any part of
the Haouran: over it is the following inscription, in well engraved
characters:

[Greek].

Upon the architrave of the door, on both sides of the inscription, are
masques in bas-relief.

In an apartment where I saw several small entrances to sepulchres, and
where there are several columns lying about, is this:

[Greek].

And, on a stone in the wall of the same apartment:

[Greek].

The hill upon which the castle stands consists of alternate layers of
the common black tufwacke of the country, and of a very porous deep red,
and often rose-cloured, pumice-stone: in some caverns formed in the
latter, salt-petre collects in great quantities. I met with the same
substance at Shohba.

S.W. of Szalkhat one hour and a half, stands the high Tel Abd Maaz, with
a ruined city of the same name; there still remain large plantations of
vines and figs, the fruit of which is

KEREYE.

[p.103]collected by the Arabs in autumn. Near Abd Maaz is another ruin
called Deffen. S. one hour is Tel Mashkouk [Arabic], towards which are
the ruins Tehhoule [Arabic], Kfer ezzeit [Arabic], and Khererribe
[Arabic].

We left Szalkhat towards sunset, on a rainy evening, in order to reach
Kereye, a village three good hours distant. In one hour we passed the
ruined village Meneidhere [Arabic], with a copious spring near it. Our
route lay through a stony plain, and the night now becoming very dark,
with incessant rain, my guides lost their way, and we continued for
three hours uncertain whether we should not be obliged to take up our
night's quarters in the open plain. At length, however, we came to the
bed of a Wady called Hameka, which we ascended for a short distance, and
in half an hour after crossing it reached Kereye, about ten at night;
here we found a comfortable Fellah's house, and a copious dish of
Bourgul.

November 23d.--Kereye is a city containing about five hundred houses, of
which four only were at this time inhabited. It has several ancient
towers, and public buildings; of the latter the principal has a portico
consisting of a triple row of six columns in each, supporting a flat
roof; seven steps, extending the whole breadth of the portico, lead from
the first row up to the third; the capitals of the columns are of the
annexed form; their base is like the capital inverted. Behind the
colonnade is a Birket surrounded with a strong wall. Upon a stone lying
upon the upper step, in the midst of which is an excavation, is this
inscription:

[Greek].

HOUSHHOUSH.

[p.104]To the S. and E. of Kereye are the ruins called Ai-in [Arabic],
Barade [Arabic], Nimri [Arabic], Bakke [Arabic], Hout [Arabic], Souhab
[Arabic], Rumman [Arabic], Szemad [Arabic], and Rafka [Arabic]. Kelab
Haouran bears from Kereye N.&.E. Kereye is three hours distance from
Boszra [Arabic], the principal town in the Haouran, remarkable for the
antiquity of its castle, and the ancient ruins and inscriptions to be
found there. I wished very much to visit it, and might have done so in
perfect safety, and without expense; but I knew that there was a
garrison of between three and four hundred Moggrebyns in the town; a
class of men which, from the circumstance of their passing from one
service to another, I was particularly desirous of avoiding. It was very
probable that I might afterwards meet with some of the individuals of
this garrison in Egypt, where they would not have failed to recognize my
person, in consequence of the remarkable circumstance of my visit to
Boszra; but as I did not think proper to state these reasons to my
guides, who of course expected me to examine the greatest curiosity in
the Haouran, I told them that I had had a dream, which made it advisable
for me not to visit this place. They greatly applauded my prudent
determination, accustomed as they had been to look upon me as a person
who had a secret to insure his safety, when travelling about in such
dangerous places. We therefore left Kereye in the morning, and
proceeding N.E. reached in three quarters of an hour Houshhoush
[Arabic], after having crossed the Wady Djaar [Arabic], which descends
from the mountain. Houshhoush is a heap of ruins, upon a Tel in the
plain, and is famed over all the Haouran for the immense treasures said
to be buried there. Whenever I was asked by the Fellahs where I had
been, they never failed to enquire particularly whether I had seen
Houshhoush. The small ancient village contains nothing remarkable except
a church, supported by a single arch which rests on pillars much higher
than those generally seen in this country. At the

SHMERRIN.

[p.105]foot of the hill are several wells. We found here a great number
of mushrooms; we had met with some at Szalkhat; my guides taught me to
eat them raw, with a morsel of bread. The quantity of Kattas here was
beyond description; the whole plain seemed sometimes to rise; and far
off in the air they were seen like large moving clouds.

W. of Houshhoush half an hour, in the plain, are Tel Zakak and Deir
Aboud; the latter is a building sixty feet square, of which the walls
only are standing; they are built with small stones, and have a single
low door. From this place W.S.W. three quarters of an hour is Tahoun el
Abiad [Arabic] i.e. the White Mill, the ruins of a mill on the banks of
the Wady Ras el Beder, which I noticed in speaking of Zahouet el Khuder.
S.W. from Tahoun, three quarters of an hour, is the ruined village Kourd
[Arabic], and W. from it one hour, the village Tellafe [Arabic]. Our way
from Deir Aboud lay W.S.W.; at one hour and a half from it is the
considerable ruined village Keires [Arabic], on the Wady Zedi, the
largest of all the Wadys which descend from the mountain into the plain.
The soil of this uncultivated district is of a red colour, and appears
to be very fertile. From hence I proceeded towards Boszra, which I
observed at the distance of half an hour, from the high ground above
Keires. The castle of Boszra bore W.S.W. that of Szalkhat E.S.S., and
the Kelab Haouran N.E.; I was near enough to distinguish the castle, and
the mosque which is called by the Mohammedans El Mebrek, from the lying
down of the Caliph Othman's camel.

Turning from hence, in a N.W. direction, we came to the ruined village
Shmerrin [Arabic], about three quarters of an hour from Keires. Over a
door in the village I read:

[xxxxx].

Near the village stands an insulated tower, with an Arabic inscription,

AAERE.

[p.106]but so high that I could not copy it; above it in large
characters is [Greek] [of Felix. Ed]. The Wady Zedi passes close to this
village, where a bridge of three arches is built over it; I was told
that in winter the waters often rise over the bridge. Farther to the
west this Wady joins that of Ghazale.

From Shmerrin we travelled to the northward; about an hour and a half to
our left was the village Kharaba. We were now upon the Hadj route
formerly pursued by the pilgrims from Damascus through the Ledja to
Soueida and Boszra. The road is still marked by stones scattered over
it, the remains, probably, of its pavement.

Thee quarters of an hour from Shmerrin, close to the right of the road,
stands Deir Esszebeir [Arabic], a ruined village with a building like a
monastery. At sunset we reached Aaere, two hours and a quarter from
Shmerrin.

November 24th and 25th.--I remained at Aaere these two days, during
which the Sheikh continued his friendly behaviour towards me. It was my
wish to make an excursion towards the western parts of the plain of the
Haouran, in order to visit Draa, and the ruins of Om Edjemal and Om
Ezzeroub, distant one day's journey from Draa, which, judging from all
the information I had received, seemed to be well worth seeing. I
offered to any person, or company of men, who would undertake to guide
me to the spot, thirty piastres, a large sum in these parts, but nobody
was to be found. The fact was that the road from Aaere to Draa, as well
as that from thence to Om Edjemal, was infested by a party of Arabs
Serdie, the brother of whose chief had recently been killed by the
Pasha's troops; and besides these, it was known that numerous parties of
Arabs Sheraka made incursions in the same direction I

THAALE.

[p.107]was therefore obliged to give up my project, but with the
intention of executing it at a future period.

November 28th.--I left Aaere in the company of a Druse; at parting the
Sheikh made me promise that I would again visit his village. The
direction of our route was to the N.W. In an hour and a quarter, over a
plain, in most parts cultivated, we reached El Kenneker [Arabic], a
solid building upon a hill, with a few habitations round it; all the
villages in this part are inhabited; we saw the traces of the Wahabi in
a burnt field. E. from hence one hour is Deir Ettereife [Arabic]. N.E.
half an hour, the village Hadid [Arabic]; half an hour farther passed
Ousserha [Arabic], a village with a copious spring. One hour and a half
E. we saw Walgha [Arabic]. Just before we reached Ousserha we passed the
Wady El Thaleth, which I have mentioned between Soueida and Zahouet.
Continuing on the side of the Wady for three quarters of an hour, we
came to Thaale [Arabic], where there is a Birket: here we stopped to
breakfast. It is inhabited by Mohammedans only.

In a building now used as a mosque, within which are four arches, and
three short pillars in the vestibule, I copied the two following
inscriptions placed opposite each other.

[Greek][A.D. 683, the twenty-third year of the Emperor Heraclius.].

On a long wall of a building entirely in ruins:

[Greek].

From Thaale one hour S.W. is Tel Sheikh Houssein, with the village Deir
Ibn Kheleif; to the W. of which is El Kerak. We

NAHITA.

[p.108]proceeded from Thaale in a W. direction, half an hour, to Daara
[Arabic], a village with a Birket. On the wall of the mosque I read as
follows:

[Greek].

One hour to the W. of the village is Rakham. Travelling from Daara  N.W.
we reached in one hour and a quarter the village Melihat Ali, to the S.
of which, half an hour, stands Melihat el Ghazale. In one hour and a
quarter from Melihat Ali we reached Nahita [Arabic], where we slept. On
the S. side of the village, near a well, now filled up, stands a small
square tower, built with large stones; there is a long inscription over
its entrance, but illegible.

November 27th.--In a ruined arched building I copied the following:

[Greek].

and over a door as follows:

[Greek].

This village has a large Birket, and contains a ruined tower, with
vaulted buildings adjoining.

We proceeded one hour to Melihat el Hariri, so named from

KHABEB.


[p.109]its Sheikh being generally of the family of Hariri; the proper
name of the village is Melihat el Atash. I there copied the following,
over a door:

[Greek].

From thence, in one hour and a quarter, I reached Ezra, and alighted at
the house of the priest. I again endeavoured to visit Draa, but no body
would undertake to act as my guide except a peasant, in whose company I
did not think that I should be sufficiently secure; for it had been a
constant rule with me, during this tour, not to expose myself to any
hazard, well knowing that this was not the place, where duty and honour
obliged me to do so; on the contrary, I felt that I should not be
justified in risking my life, in this quarter, destined as I am to
other, and it is hoped, more important pursuits.

November 28th.--I left Ezra this morning with the priest, to visit some
villages in the northern Loehf, and if possible to enter the Ledja. We
rode one hour to Keratha, close to which is a spring. From Keratha, in
an hour and a quarter, we came to Mehadje, whence I saw Tel Shiehhan
bearing E.S.E. To the east of the road from Ezra to Mehadje on the Ledja
are the ruins of Sour and Aazim. From Mehadje we entered the Ledja, and
continued in it, at half an hour's distance from the cultivated plain,
in the direction N.E., till we reached Khabeb [Arabic] at the end of two
hours. Between Tebne and Khabeb lies the village Bossir. From Khabeb the
Kelab Haouran bears S.S.E. This is a considerable village, inhabited for
the greater part by Catholic Christians, who, as I have mentioned above,
emigrated from Szalkhat. The Sheikh is a Druse. I met here a poor Arab,
a native of the country three days journey from Mekka; he told me that
the

DHAMI.

[p.110]Wahabi had killed four of his brothers; that he fled from home,
and established himself at Dael, a village in the Haouran, which was
ransacked last summer by the same enemies, when he lost the whole of his
property. This man corroborated what I have repeatedly been told, that a
single person may travel over the Wahabi dominions with perfect safety.

November 29th.--I here took two Druses to conduct me into the interior
of the Ledja. The Arabs who inhabit that district pay some deference to
the Druses, but none whatever to the Turks or Christians of the
neighbouring villages. In one hour we passed the two ruined cities
Zebair [Arabic] and Zebir [Arabic], close to each other. At the end of
two hours and a quarter, our road lying in the direction of the Kelab
Haouran, we came to the ruined village Djedel [Arabic]. Thus far the
Ledja is a level country with a stony soil covered with heaps of rocks,
amongst which are a number of small patches of meadow, which afford
excellent pasture for the cattle of the Arabs who inhabit these parts.
From Djedel the ground becomes uneven, the pasturing places less
frequent, the rocks higher, and the road more difficult. I had intended
to proceed to Aahere, where there is a fine spring; but evening coming
on we stopped near Dhami [Arabic], three hours and three quarters from
Khabeb, and two hours distant from Aahere. It appears strange that a
city should have been built by any people in a spot where there is
neither water nor arable ground, and nothing but a little grass amidst
the stones. Dhami may contain three hundred houses, most of which are
still in good preservation. There is a large building whose gate is
ornamented with sculptured vine leaves and grapes, like those at
Kanouat.

Every house appears to have had its cistern; there are many also in the
immediate vicinity of the town: they are formed by excavations in the
rock, the surface of which is supported by props

DEIR DHAMI.

[p.111]of loose stones. Some of them are arched and have narrow canals
to conduct the water into them from the higher grounds. S.E. of Dhami
half an hour is Deir Dhami [Arabic], another ruined place, smaller than
the former, and situated in a most dreary part of the Ledja, near which
we found, after a good deal of search, an encampment of Arabs Medledj,
where we passed the night.

November 30th.--These Arabs being of a doubtful character, and rendered
independent by the very difficult access of their rocky abode, we did
not think it prudent to tell them that I had come to look at their
country; they were told, therefore, that I was a manufacturer of
gunpowder, in search of saltpetre, for at Dhami, and in most of the
ruined villages in the Ledja, the earth which is dug up in the court-
yards of the houses, as well as in the immediate vicinity of them,
contains saltpetre, or as it is called in Arabic, Melh Baroud, i.e.
gunpowder salt.

The Ledja, which is from two to three days journey in length, by one in
breadth, is inhabited by several tribes of Arabs; viz. Selman [Arabic],
Medledj [Arabic], Szolout [Arabic], Dhouhere [Arabic], and Siale
[Arabic]; of these the Szolout may have about one hundred tents, the
Medledj one hundred and twenty, and the others fifty or sixty. They
breed a vast number of goats, which easily find pasturage amongst the
rocks; a few of them also keep sheep and cows, and cultivate the soil in
some parts of the Ledja, where they sow wheat and barley. They possess
few horses; the Medledj have about twenty, and the Szolout and Dhouhere
each a dozen. But I shall have occasion to speak of these Arabs again in
describing the people of the country.

The tent in which we slept was remarkably large, although it could not
easily be perceived amidst the labyrinth of rocks where it was pitched;
yet our host was kept awake the whole night by

THE LEDJA.

[p.112]the fear of robbers, and the dogs barked incessantly. He told me
next morning that the Szolout had lately been very successful in their
nightly depredations upon the Medledj. Our host having no barley, gave
my horse a part of some wheat which he had just brought from the plain,
to bake into bread for his family.

December lst.--We departed at sunrise, the night having been so cold
that none of us was able to sleep. We found our way with great
difficulty out of the labyrinth of rocks which form the inner Ledja, and
through which the Arabs alone have the clue. Some of the rocks are
twenty feet high, and the country is full of hills and Wadys. In the
outer Ledja trees are less frequent than here, where they grow in great
numbers among the rocks; the most common are the oak, the Malloula, and
the Bouttan; the latter is the bitter almond, from the fruit of which an
oil is extracted used by the people of the country to anoint their
temples and forehead as a cure for colds; its branches are in great
demand for pipe tubes. There are no springs in any part of this stony
district, but water collects, in winter time, in great quantities in the
Wadys, and in the cisterns and Birkets which are every where met with;
in some of these it is kept the whole summer; when they are dried up the
Arabs approach the borders of the Ledja, called the Loehf, to water
their cattle at the springs in that district. The camel is met with
throughout the Ledja, and walks with a firm step over the rocky surface.
In summer he feeds on the flowers or dry grass of the pasturing places.
In the interior parts of the Ledja the rocks are in many places cleft
asunder, so that the whole hill appears shivered and in the act of
falling down: the layers are generally horizontal, from six to eight
feet, or more, in thickness, sometimes covering the hills, and inclining
to their curve, as appears from the fissures, which often traverse the
rock from top to bottom. In

[p.113] many places are ruined walls; from whence it may be conjectured
that a stratum of soil of sufficient depth for cultivation had in
ancient times covered the rock.

We had lost our road, when we met with a travelling encampment of
Medledj, who guided us into a more open place, where their companions
were pitching their tents. We breakfasted with them, and I was present
during an interesting conversation between one of my Druse companions
and an Arab. The wife of the latter, it appeared, had been carried off
by another Arab, who fearing the vengeance of the injured husband, had
gone to the Druse Sheikh of Khabeb, and having secured his Dakhil
[Arabic], or protection, returned to the woman in the Ledja. The Sheikh
sent word to the husband, cautioning him against taking any violent
measures against his enemy. The husband, whom we here met with, wished
to persuade the Druses that the Dakhil of the Sheikh was unjust, and
that the adulterer ought to be left to his punishment. The Druse not
agreeing with him, he swore that nothing should prevent him from
shedding the blood of the man who had bereft him of his own blood; but I
was persuaded that he would not venture to carry his threat into effect;
for should he kill his enemy, the Druses would not fail to be revenged
upon the slayer or his family.

The outer Ledja is to be distinguished from the inner, on this side as
well as on that by which we entered it, the former being much less
rocky, and more fit for pasturage than the latter. On the borders of the
inner Ledja we passed several places where the mill-stones are made,
which I have mentioned in a former part of my journal. The stones are
cut horizontally out of the rocks, leaving holes of four or five feet in
depth, and as many in circumference; fifty or sixty of these excavations
are often met with in the circumference of a mile. The stones are
carried to be finished at Ezra, Mehadje, Aeib, Khabeb, and Shaara.

SHAARA.

[p.114] In one hour and a half from the borders of the Ledja, we came to
Kastal Kereim, a ruined village, with a Birket; half an hour from it,
Kereim, a Druse village. Between Kereim and Khabeb in the Loehf, is Aeib
[Arabic], a Druse village, in which is a powder manufactory; there is
another at Khabeb. Half an hour from Kereim is Kalaat Szamma [Arabic], a
ruined village, with several towers. One hour and a half, Shaara, a
village inhabited by about one hundred Druse and Christian families. We
travelled this day about eight hours and a half. Shaara was once a
considerable city; it is built on both sides of a Wady, half an hour
from the cultivated plain, and is surrounded by a most dreary barren
War. It has several large solidly built structures, now in ruins, and
amongst others a tower that must have been about forty-five feet high.
In the upper town is an ancient edifice with arches, converted into a
mosque: over its door is this inscription:

[Greek].

There is a salt-petre manufactory in the town; the earth in which the
salt-petre is found, is collected in great quantities in the ruined
houses, and thrown into large wooden vessels perforated with small holes
on one side near the bottom. Water is then poured in, which drains
through the holes, into a lower vessel, from whence it is taken, and
poured into large copper kettles; after boiling for twenty-four hours,
it is left in the open air; the sides of the kettles then become covered
with crystals, which are afterwards washed to free them from all
impurities. One hundred Rotolas of saline earth give from one to one and
a half Rotola of salt-petre. I was told by the Sheikh of the village,
who is the manufacturer

MISSEMA.

[p.115]on his own account, that he sends yearly to Damascus as much as
one hundred Kantars. Here is also a gunpowder manufactory.

December 2d.--The Greek priest, who had not ventured to accompany me
into the Ledja, I found again at Shaara. I wished to see some parts of
the northern Loehf, and particularly the ruins of Missema, of which I
heard much from the country people. I therefore engaged a man at Shaara,
to conduct me to the place, and from thence to Damascus. We set out in
the morning, proceeded along the limits of the War, in an easterly
direction, and in three quarters of an hour came to the sources of water
called Sheraya [Arabic]; they are five or six in number, are situated
just on the borders of the War, and extend as far as Missema, watering
all the plain before them. Here, in the spring, the people of Shaara
grow vegetables and water melons, and in summer the Arabs of the Ledja
sometimes sow the neighbouring fields with wheat; but the frequent
passage of the Bedouins renders the collection of the harvest somewhat
precarious. Missemi, or Missema, is situated in the Ledja, at one hour
and a half from Shaara; it is a ruined town of three miles in circuit.
Over the door of a low vaulted building I read the following inscription
in well executed characters:

[Greek]. [Helvius]

The principal ruin in the town is a temple, in tolerable preservation;
it is one of the most elegant buildings which I have seen in the
Haouran. The approach to it is over a broad paved area, which has once
been surrounded by a row of short pillars; a flight of six steps, the
whole length of the facade,

[p.116] leads up to the portico, which consists of seven Doric columns,
but of which three only are now standing. The entrance to the temple is
through a large door in the centre, on each side of which is a smaller
door; over the latter are niches. There are no sculptured ornaments on
any part of the great door: the temple is sixteen paces square within.
Four Corinthian columns standing in a square in the centre of the
chamber support the roof. About two feet and a half under their capitals
is a ring; their pedestals are three feet and a half high. Opposite the
entrance is a large semicircular niche, the top of which is elegantly
sculptured so as to resemble a shell. On either side of the niche is a
pilaster, standing opposite to one of the columns. At the door are two
pilasters similarly placed, and two others upon each of the side walls.
Projecting from the bottom of each of these side walls, are four
pedestals for busts or statues. The roof is formed of several arches,
which, like the walls, are constructed with large stones. On either side
of the interior niche is a small dark room. The door of the temple faces
the south, and is almost completely walled up with small stones. Over
the pedestals of two of the remaining columns of the portico are the
following inscriptions:

[Greek].

Over the great door:

[Greek]

MISSEMA.

[p.117] [Greek].

In larger characters immediately under the former.

[Greek] [Legionis tertiae Gallicae. Ed.].

On one of the jambs of the door;

[Greek].

Upon a broken stone in the portico: [Greek].

[p.118] [Greek].

On the pedestal of a statue in the temple:

[Greek].

On another pedestal:

[Greek][Tribunum ([Greek]) Legionis Flaviae firmae. This was the 16th
legion, as appears from the two following inscriptions. The 16th has the
same title in an inscription in Gruter (p. 427). Ed.].

Under the niche to the left of the great door:

[Greek].

Under that to the right:

[Greek].

There are several other public buildings at Missema; but in no way
remarkable for their architecture. I had been told that in one of these
buildings was a large stone covered with small Greek characters. I
sought for it in vain. Missema has no inhabitants; we met with only a
few workmen, digging the saline earth: there are no springs here, but a
number of cisterns. E. of Missema are no inhabited villages, but the
Loehf contains several in ruins.

MERDJAN.

[p.119]From Missema our way lay N.N.W. over the desert plain, towards
Djebel Kessoue. This route is much frequented in the summer time by the
Aeneze, who pass this way to and from the Haouran. The plain is
intersected in every direction by paths formed by camels, called Daroub
el aarb [Arabic]. At the end of two hours we saw to the left, in the
mountains, the ruined village Om el Kezour; and one hour eastward from
thence, in the plain, an insulated pillar called Amoud Esszoubh
[Arabic], i.e. the Column of the Morning, on which, as I was afterwards
told, are several inscriptions. Our road now turned N. and we reached,
after sunset, in three hours and a quarter from Missema, the ruined
village Merdjan, where we found some men who had come to sow a few acres
of ground, and partook of a frugal supper with them.

December 3d.--The small village of Merdjan is picturesquely situated on
a gentle declivity near the foot of the mountain, and is surrounded by
orchards, and poplar trees, which have escaped the rapacious hands of
the Arabs: hard by flows a rivulet, which irrigates the adjacent
grounds. We left Merdjan early in the morning. Twenty minutes north is
Ain Toby [Arabic], or the spring of the gazelle, consisting of several
wells, round one of which are the remains of a well built wall. At one
hour and a half is Soghba [Arabic], a few houses surrounded by a wall;
three quarters of an hour from thence is Deir Ali [Arabic], a village at
the western foot of Djebel Mane; before we came to the village we
crossed the Moiet Deir Ali, a rivulet whose source is in the
neighbourhood. Half an hour from Deir Ali is Meshdie [Arabic], a small
village, in the valley between Djebel Mane and Djebel Khiara, which is
about three hours in breadth. The ground is here for the greater part
cultivated. Our route was N.N.W. from Deir Ali, from whence, in two
hours, we reached El Kessoue, and towards sunset we entered Damascus.

[p.121]

JOURNAL

OF A

TOUR FROM ALEPPO TO DAMASCUS,

THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE ORONTES AND MOUNT LIBANUS,

IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1812.

February 14th.--I LEFT Aleppo at mid-day; and in half an hour came to
the miserable village Sheikh Anszary [Arabic], where I took leave of my
Worthy friends Messieurs Barker and Van Masseyk, the English and Dutch
Consuls, two men who do honour to their respective countries. I passed
the two large cisterns called Djob Mehawad [Arabic], and Djob Emballat
[Arabic], and reached, at the end of two hours and a half, the Khan
called Touman [Arabic], near a village of the same name, situated on the
Koeyk, or river of Aleppo. The Khan is in a bad state; Pashas no longer
think of repairing public edifices.

February 15th--After a march of ten hours and a half, I arrived at
Sermein, having had some difficulty in crossing the muddy plain. The
neighbourhood of Sermein is remarkable for great numbers of cisterns and
wells hewn in the rock: in the town every house has a similar cistern;
those in the plain serve to water the peasants' cattle in the summer,
for there are no springs in these parts. On the S.E. side of Sermein is
a large subterraneous vault, cut in the solid rock, divided into several
apartments, and

EDLIP.

[p.122]supported in various places by round pillars with coarsely
wrought capitals; near this are several other excavations, all inhabited
by the poor peasants. Sermein belongs to the family of Khodsy Effendy of
Aleppo.

February 16th.--Half an hour to the left, near our road, is an insulated
hill, with the tomb of a saint, called Kubbet Denneit [Arabic]; the
plain is here well cultivated, but nothing is sown at present between
Khan Touman and Sermein. To the right of the road, on a similar hill,
stands Mezar Kubbet Menebya [Arabic]; and one hour to the right, also
upon a Tel, Mezar Tar [Arabic]. Half an hour S.E. from Denneit is the
village Gemanas.

In two hours and a half from Sermein we reached the town of Edlip
[Arabic], the approach to which is very picturesque; it lies round the
foot of a hill, which divides it into two parts; there is a smaller hill
on the N. side: the town is surrounded by olive plantations, and the
whole landscape put my companion, an English traveller, in mind of
Athens and its vicinity. Here again are many wells cut in the rocky soil
round the town. This place is called Little Edlip [Arabic]. Of Great
Edlip [Arabic], the name only remains: it stood at half an hour's
distance from the present town, which is of modern date, or about the
middle of the seventeenth century. I reckoned the number of its houses
at about one thousand. The inhabitants are for the most part Turks;
there are only eighty Greek Christian families, and three of Armenian
Greeks. They have a church, and three priests, and are under the
immediate jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarch of Damascus.

The principal trade of Edlip is in soap; there are some manufactories of
cotton stuffs, and a few dyeing-houses. The Bazars are well built, some
of them of stone. In the town are several Khans, two of which are
destined for the reception of strangers;

[p.123]but the best edifice is the soap manufactory (El Meszbane), a
large building. Edlip has no gardens, because there is no water but from
wells and cisterns; there are a few orchards of pomegranate and fig
trees, and some vine plantations. The place is supplied with vegetables
from Rieha, and from Aere, a village two hours distant, lying between
Darkoush and Djissr Shogher. There is a single spring in the town of
brackish water, which is never used but in seasons of great drought; a
man who had cleansed the bottom of the deep well in which the spring
issues, told me that he found two openings in the rock, near each other,
from the one of which flows sweet water, while that from the other is
brackish. I made the tour of the town in thirty-seven minutes; the rocky
ground is full of caverns, wells, and pits.

Edlip is held by the family of Kuperly Zaade of Constantinople; but a
part of its revenue is a Wakf to the Harameyn, that is to say, it
contributes to defray the expenses of the two holy cities Mekka and
Medina. The town pays annually to the above family, twenty purses for
themselves, and fifteen for the holy cities; the latter sum was formerly
sent to Mekka every year with the pilgrim caravan; but it is now paid
into the hands of the Kuperlys. The town of Djissr Shogher [Arabic],
distant six hours from Edlip, on the road to Ladikia, belongs to the
same family, and is likewise a Wakf attached to the holy cities; it pays
fifteen purses to the Kuperlys, and seven to the Harameyn. The revenue
arising from thirteen or fourteen villages in the neighbourhood of
Djissr Shogher has been assigned to the support of several hospitals
which the Kuperlys have built in that town, where a number of poor
people are fed daily gratis. Neither Edlip nor Shogher pays any land-tax
or Miri, in consequence of their being attached to Mekka; but there is a
custom-house at Edlip, where duties are levied on all kinds of
provisions, as rice, coffee, oil, raisins, tobacco, &c.

[p.124]the proceeds of which amount to nearly one hundred purses;
besides a house tax, which yields twenty purses. The duties levied on
provisions at Djissr Shogher amount to twenty purses.

The government of Edlip is in the hands of a Mutsellim, named by the
Porte; the real power had been for many years in the rich family of
Ayash [Arabic], till the present chief of that family, Mahmoud Ibn
Ayash, a man famous for his hospitality and upright character, had the
misfortune to lose all his influence. In 1810 his house became involved
in a deadly quarrel with that of Djahya, in consequence of a game of
Jerid, which took a serious turn, and in which much blood was shed.
Djahya left Edlip, and went to Rieha and Djissr Shogher, where he
succeeded in engaging in his interest Seyd Aga and Topal Aly, the rebel
chiefs of those towns, who only wanted a pretext to fall upon Edlip;
they accordingly stirred up the inhabitants against Mahmoud, who was
obliged to fly to Aleppo, and having sent the Mutsellim, Moury Aga, back
to Constantinople, they put Abou Shah, the brother-in-law of Topal Aly,
in his place, and brought Djahya back to Edlip. After some months the
two rebels came to a compromise with Mahmoud, who returned to Edlip, and
Djahya, in turn, fled to Aleppo; Mahmoud's power, however, was now at an
end: the two chiefs are at present masters of the town, and share its
spoils; but its wealth has much decreased since these events took place.
In eighteen months it has paid upwards of six hundred purses; and on the
day before our arrival a new contribution of two hundred had spread
despair among the inhabitants. A Kadhi is sent here early from
Constantinople. Sermein bears from hence S.E. by E. There are no
dependent villages in the territory of Edlip.

February 17th.--We left Edlip after mid-day. Our road lay through a wood
of olive trees, in a fertile uneven plain of red argillaceous soil. In
one hour we reached Sheikh Hassan, the tomb of

RIEHA.

[p.125]a saint; in an hour and a quarter the insulated hill Tel Stommak
[Arabic], with the village Stommak on its west side. The direction from
Edlip S. by W.: this hill seems to be an artificial mound of earth. The
Wood of olive trees here terminates. In two hours and forty minutes we
arrived at Rieha [Arabic], which we did not enter, through fear of the
rebel Seyd Aga, who occupies it. It contains about four or five hundred
houses, is a much frequented market, and has two large soap
manufactories. Rieha is situated on the northern declivity of the Djebel
Erbayn [Arabic], or the Mountain of the Forty; and belongs to the
government of Aleppo; but since the expulsion of Mohammed Pasha, Seyd
Aga has been in the possession of it, and governs also the whole
mountain of Rieha, of which Djebel Erbayn forms a part. This man is a
chief of that kind of cavalry which the Turks call Dehlys. He has about
three hundred of them in his service, together with about one hundred
Arnaouts; common interests have closely connected him with Topal Aly,
the chief of the Dehlys at Djissr Shogher, who has about six hundred
under his command, and with Milly Ismayl, another chief, who commands at
Kalaat el Medyk. Unless the Porte finds means to disunite these three
rebels, there is little probability of its reducing them. They at
present tyrannize over the whole country from Edlip to Hamah.

About two hours to the S.E. of Rieha lies the village of Marszaf
[Arabic], and S. of the latter about one hour, the ruined town Benin. We
ascended the mountain from Rieha, turned round its eastern corner, and
in one hour from Rieha, reached the village of Kefr Lata [Arabic]. We
were hospitably received at the house of the Sheikh of Kefr Lata,
although his women only were at home. A wondering story-teller amused us
in the evening with chanting the Bedouin history of the Beni Helal. Kefr
Lata belongs to Ibn Szeyaf, one of the first families of Aleppo.

February 18th.--Kefr Lata is situated upon the mountain of

KEFR LATA.

[p.126]Rieha, on the S. side of a narrow valley watered by a rivulet; it
contains forty or fifty houses, all well built of square stones, which
have been taken from the buildings of a town of the lower empire, which
occupied the same site. The remains deserve notice, on account of the
vast quantity of stone coffins and sepulchres. The mountain is a barren
calcareous rock, of no great hardness. In some places are a few spots of
arable ground, where the inhabitants of the village grow barley and
Dhourra. On the side of the rivulet are some fruit trees. We were
occupied the whole morning in visiting the neighbourhood of the village,
which must have been anciently the burying place of all the great
families of this district; the number of tombs being too considerable
for so small a town as Kefr Lata appears to have been; no such
sepulchres, or at least very few, are met with among the ruins of the
large cities which we saw afterwards in the same mountain. Beginning on
the west side of the village, I counted sixteen coffins and seven caves;
the coffins are all excavated in the rock; the largest are nine feet
long, and three feet and a half in breadth; the smaller seven feet long,
and three feet broad; their depth is generally about five feet. In the
greater part of them there is on one side a curved recess, cut in the
rock, about four feet in length, and two feet in breadth. All these
coffins had originally stone lids of a single block of stone, exactly
covering the aperture of the coffin. Only a small proportion of these
now remain entire, but there are some quite uninjured. I saw only two or
three in which a sculptured frieze or cornice was carried along the
whole length of the cover; the generality have only a few ornaments on
the two ends; they are all of the annexed shape.

The apertures of the coffins are invariably even with the surface of the
ground, and the lids only are seen from without, as if lying upon the
surface.

[p.127]The sepulchral caves vary in their sizes and construction; the
entrance is generally through a low door, sometimes ornamented by short
pilasters, into a vaulted room cut in the rock, the size of which varies
from six to fifteen feet in length, and from four to ten feet in
breadth; the height of the vault is about six feet; but sometimes the
cave terminates in a flat roof. They all contain coffins, or receptacles
for the dead; in the smaller chambers there is a coffin in each of the
three sides: the larger contain four or six coffins, two opposite the
entrance, and one on each side, or two on each of the three sides: the
coffins in general are very rudely formed. Some of the natural caverns
contain also artificial receptacles for the dead, similar to those
already described; I have seen many of these caverns in different parts
of Syria. The south side of the village being less rocky, there are
neither caves nor coffins on that side. On the east side I counted
twenty-one coffins, and five sepulchral caves; of the former, fourteen
are within a very small space; the greater part of them are single, but
in same places they have been formed in pairs, upon the same level, and
almost touching each other.

Crossing to the N. side of the valley of Kefr Lata, I met with a long
wall built with large blocks of stone; to the north of it is an oblong
square, thirty-seven paces in length, and twenty-seven in breadth, cut
out of the rock; in its walls are several niches. In the middle of it is
a large coffin, with the remains of a wall which had enclosed it. To the
E. of this is a similar square, but of smaller dimensions. I counted in
this neighbourhood twenty coffins and four sepulchral caves, besides
several open niches very neatly wrought in the side of the mountain,
containing recesses for the dead.

Returning towards the village I passed the source of the rivulet which
waters the valley. Over it stands an ancient building, which consists of
a vaulted roof supported by four short columns, in a very bad heavy
style; it is about thirieen feet in height. A

DJEBEL ERBAYN.

[p.128] few letters of a Greek in scription are visible on the lower
part of the roof:

[Greek].

We left the village about mid-day, and crossed the mountain in a
northerly direction, by the short foot way to Rieha; in half an hour we
reached the point of the mountain directly over Rieha. It is this part
of the Djebel Rieha which is properly called Djebel Erbayn. In the last
century a summer residence was built here just above the town; but it is
now abandoned, although a most beautiful spot, surrounded by fruit trees
of all sorts, with a copious spring, and presenting a magnificent view
over the plains of Aleppo and Edlip. A spring, which here issues from
under the rock, collects in front of the building into a large basin,
from whence it flows down to Rieha. I here took the following bearings;
Edlip N. by E.; Sermein N.E.b.N.; Mount St. Simon N.N.E.; Khan Touman
E.N.E.; Djebel el Ala N.; Djebel Akra W.N.W. About one hour N.E. of
Rieha lies the village Haleya.

From Djebel Erbayn we continued our road in a S.S.W. direction, on the
declivity of the mountain of Rieha. In half an hour

EL BARA.

[p.129] we passed a copious spring, enclosed by a square building,
called El Monboaa [Arabic]. In the plain to the right we saw the village
Kefrzebou [Arabic], and half an hour to the west of it another, called
Ourim [Arabic]. We met with several sepulchral caves on our road.
Wherever, in these parts, the soil admits of culture, wheat and barley
are sown among the rocks. If such spots are distant from a village, the
cultivators pitch a few tents for the purpose of watching the seed and
crop; such encampments are called Mezraa [Arabic]. In an hour and ten
minutes we reached Nahle; two hours and forty minutes the village
Meghara [Arabic], with many remains of ancient buildings. Here I saw a
neat sepulchral cave with a vaulted portico supported by two pillars. In
three hours we reached the village Merayan [Arabic]; the direction of
our route sometimes S.W. sometimes S.S.W. Just by Merayan is a large
coffin, cut in the rocky ground, like those of Kefr Lata; and near it a
spring, with ancient walls. In three hours and twenty minutes we came to
Ahsin [Arabic], half an hour to the west of which is the village Eblim
[Arabic]. The principal produce of all these villages is grapes, which
are carried to the Aleppo market, and there sold, in ordinary years, at
about nine shillings per quintal; or else they are boiled to form the
sweet glutinous extract called Debs, which is a substitute for sugar all
over the East. At the end of four hours and a half we reached the
village El Bara [Arabic], where we finished our day's journey; but we
met with a very cold reception, although I had taken the precaution of
obtaining a letter of recommendation to the Sheikh of the village from
the proprietor of it, Taleb Effendi, of the family Tcheleby Effendi Toha
Zade, the first house of Aleppo.

Half an hour N.W. of Bara lies the village Belyoum. A high hill,
contiguous to the Djebel Rieha, called Neby Ayoub [Arabic], bears N.W.
from El Bara, distant about an hour and three

[p.130]quarters. On its summit is a Turkish chapel sacred to the memory
of the prophet Ayoub (Job). Two hours distant from El Bara, S. by W.
lies the village Kefr Nebyl.

February 20th.--The mountain of Rieha, of which El Bara forms a part, is
full of the ruins of cities, which flourished in the times of the lower
empire;[The following are the names of other villages and ruined towns,
situated upon the mountain of Rieha from the information of a man or El
Bara: viz. Medjellye [Arabic], Betersa [Arabic], Baouza [Arabic], Has
[Arabic], El Rebeya [Arabic], Serdjelle [Arabic], El Djerada [Arabic],
Moarrat Houl [Arabic], Moarrat Menhas [Arabic], Beshelle [Arabic],
Babouza [Arabic], El Deir [Arabic], El Roweyha [Arabic], with extensive
ruins; Zer Szabber [Arabic], Zer Louza [Arabic], Moar Bellyt [Arabic],
Moar Szaf [Arabic], Serdjeb Mantef [Arabic], Nahle [Arabic], El Rama
[Arabic], Kefr Rouma [Arabic], Shennan [Arabic], Ferkya [Arabic],
Belshou [Arabic], Ahsarein [Arabic], Moarrat Maater [Arabic], Djebale
[Arabic], Kefrneba [Arabic], Beskala [Arabic], Moarrata [Arabic],
Djousef [Arabic], El Fetteyry [Arabic], El Ahmeyry [Arabic], Erneba
[Arabic], El Arous [Arabic], Kon Szafra [Arabic], El Mezra [Arabic],
Aweyt [Arabic], Kefr Shelaye [Arabic], Szakhrein [Arabic], Benames
[Arabic], Kefr Djennab [Arabic], Szankoul [Arabic].] those of El Bara
are the most considerable of the whole, and as I had often heard the
people of the country mention them, I thought it worth while to take
this circuitous road to Hamah.

The ruins are about ten minutes walk to the west of the village.
Directing our researches to that side we met with a sepulchral cave in
the immediate vicinity of the town; a broad staircase leads down to the
entrance of it, over which I copied this inscription:

[Greek].

The following figure, in relief, was over it. We saw the same figure,
with variations, over the gates of several buildings in these ruins; the
episcopal staff is found in all

[p.131]of them. The best executed one that I saw was of this form. On
the outside of the town are several sepulchral caves, and a few coffins.

The town walls on the E. side are yet standing; they are very neatly
built with small stones, with a square pillar at every six or seven
paces, about nine feet high. The ruins extend for about half an hour
from south to north, and consist of a number of public buildings,
churches, and private habitations, the walls and roofs of some of which
are still standing. I found no inscriptions here. The stone with which
the buildings are constructed is a soft calcareous rock, that speedily
decays wherever it is exposed to the air; it is of the same description
as that found in the buildings of the towns about the mountain of St.
Simon, and in the ruins of St. Simon, where not a single legible
inscription remains, though, as at Bara, traces of them are seen in many
places. We surveyed the town in all directions, but saw no building
worth noticing, except three tombs, which are plain square structures
surmounted with pyramids. The pyramidal summit of one of them has
fallen. The interior of these tombs is a square of six paces; on the
side opposite the door is a stone coffin; and two others in each of the
other two walls; the pyramidal roof is well constructed, being hollow to
the top, with rounded angles, and without any interior support. On the
outside the pyramid is covered with thin slabs, on each of which is a
kind of knob, which gives the whole a very singular appearance. The
height of the whole building may be about twenty-four feet. In one of
the tombs is a window, the other is quite dark. Two of them stand near
together; a third is in a different part of the town. The sides of one
of the coffins is carved with a cross in the middle.

[p.132]The mode of construction in all the private habitations is
similar to that which I noticed in the ancient towns of the Haouran, and
which, in fact, is still in use in most of the Arab villages in Syria,
with this difference, that the latter build with timber and mud instead
of stone.

On the N. side of El Bara stands a castle, built in the Saracen or
Crusade style, with a spring near it, called Bir Alloun [Arabic], the
only one in the neighbourhood of the ancient town, and which apparently
was insufficient to the inhabitants, as we found many cisterns cut very
deep in the rock. Turning from the spring towards the present village,
we passed the tomb of a Turkish saint, called Kubbet Ibn Imaum Abou
Beker, where the son of Abou Beker is reported to have been killed: near
it is a cave, with eight receptacles for the dead. I saw there some
rocks of the same basaltic tufwacke which I met with in the Djebel el
Hasz and in ome of the districts of Haouran.

The greater part of the villages of Djebel Rieha belong to the Dehly
Bashi, at Rieha. Feteyry belongs to the district of Marra; its
inhabitants have often been punished for their rebellious conduct, and
their predatory incursions into the neighbouring districts; their
spirit, however, is unbroken, and they still follow the same practices.
The frontiers of the Pashaliks of Damascus and Aleppo run across the
mountain of Rieha, which commences above Rieha, and extends to Kalaat el
Medyk, varying in breadth from two to five hours: it is a low but very
rocky chain, little fit for culture, except in the valleys; but it
abounds in game, especially wild boars; and ounces have sometimes been
killed in it.

We left the inhospitable Bara at mid-day, with two armed men, to escort
us over the mountain into the valley of the Orontes. In half an hour we
passed a ruined stone bridge across a narrow Wady; it rests upon piers,
which are formed of immense blocks

EL GHAB.

[p.133]of stone piled upon one another. In one hour and twenty minutes
we came to Kon Szafra, in a fertile valley on the top of the mountain,
where a few families live in wretched huts amidst the ruins of an
ancient town. N.W. about three quarters of an hour is the village of
Mezraa. In an hour and forty minutes we reached the ruined town Djerada,
and at the end of two hours and a half, Kefr Aweyt, a small village;
Kefr, in the vulgar dialect, means ruins. Here the mountain is much less
rocky, and more fit for culture. Our road lay S.W. b. S. The village of
Feteyry, lies about one hour and a half south of Aweyt. After travelling
three hours we came in sight of the Orontes, and then began to descend.
The mountain on this side is rather steep, and its side is overgrown
with herbs which afford an excellent pasturage. The plant asphodel
(Siris [Arabic]) is very common; the inhabitants of Syria, by
pulverising its dried roots, and mixing the powder with water, make a
good glue, which is superior to that made with flour, as it is not
attacked by worms. In the summer the inhabitants of the valley pasture
their cattle in these mountains, as do likewise a few tribes of Arabs;
among these are the Akeydat, of whom we passed a small encampment.

The part of Djebel Rieha which, beginning at Kon Szafra, extends to the
valley of the Orontes, on the one side towards Kalaat el Medyk, on the
other towards Djissr Shogher, bears the appellation of Djebel Shaehsabou
[Arabic]. The continuation of the same mountain towards Rieha, besides
its general name of Djebel Rieha, is likewise called Djebel Zaouy
[Arabic]. In four hours and a quarter we reached the plain below, near
an insulated hill, called Tel Aankye [Arabic], which seems to be
artificial.

The valley bordered on the E. side by Djebel Shaehsabou, and on the W.
side by the mountains of the Anzeyry, is called El Ghab [Arabic]. It
extends almost due north from three hours S. of

HOWASH.

[p.134]Kalaat el Medyk to near Djissr Shogher: its breadth is about two
hours, but becomes narrower towards the north; it is watered by the
Aaszy [Arabic], or Orontes, which flows near the foot of the western
mountain, where it forms numerous marshes. The inhabitants of El Ghab
are a mongrel race of Arabs and Fellahs, and are called Arab el Ghab.
They live in winter time in a few villages dispersed over the valley, of
which they cultivate only the land adjacent to their villages; on the
approach of hot weather they retire with their cattle to the eastern
mountains, in search of pasture, and in order to escape the immense
swarms of flies and gnats [Arabic], which infest the Ghab in that
season. In the winter the Aaszy inundates a part of the low grounds
through which it flows, and leaves many small lakes and ponds; the
valley is watered also by numerous springs and by rivulets, which
descend from the mountains, especially from those on the east. To the N.
of Tel Aankye, on the E. side towards Djissr Shogher, which is eight
hours distant from Aankye, are the springs Ayn Bet Lyakhom [Arabic], Ayn
Keleydyn [Arabic], Shaouryt [Arabic], Kastal Hadj Assaf [Arabic], Djob
Soleyman [Arabic], Djob el Nassouh [Arabic], Djob Tel el Tyn [Arabic].

Having passed to the left of Aankye, where is a small village, we
continued our road up the valley due south; we passed near the spring
Ayn el Aankye; in a quarter of an hour farther Ayn el Kherbe, and at the
same distance farther south, the copious spring Ayn el Howash [Arabic],
from whence we turned to the right into the plain, and at the end of
four hours and three quarters from El Bara, reached the village Howash,
where we alighted at the Sheikh's house.

February 21st--Howash is the principal village of the Ghab; it is
situated on the borders of a small lake, formed by the rivulet of Ayn el
Howash. The surrounding country was at this time for

[p.135]the greater part inundated, and the Arabs passed in small boats
from one village to another; in summer the inundation subsides, but the
lakes remain, and to the quantity of stagnant water thus formed is owing
the pest of flies and gnats abovementioned. There are about one hundred
and forty huts at Howash, the walls of which are built of mud; the roofs
are composed of the reeds which grow on the banks of the Orontes; the
huts in which these people live in the mountain during the summer are
formed also of reeds, which are tied together in bundles, and thus
transported to the mountain, where they are put up so as to form a line
of huts, in which the families within are separated from each other only
by a thin partition of reeds.

The Arabs of Howash cultivate Dhourra and wheat, and, like all the Arabs
of the Ghab, rear large herds of buffaloes, which are of a small kind,
and much less spirited than those I saw in the plains of Tarsous. It is
a common saying and belief among the Turks, that all the animal kingdom
was converted by their Prophet to the true faith, except the wild boar
and buffalo, which remained unbelievers; it is on this account that both
these animals are often called Christians. We are not surprised that the
boar should be so denominated; but as the flesh of the buffalo, as well
as its Leben or sour milk, is much esteemed by the Turks, it is
difficult to account for the disgrace into which that animal has fallen
among them; the only reason I could learn for it, is that the buffalo,
like the hog, has a habit of rolling in the mud, and of plunging into
the muddy ponds in the summer time, up to the very nose, which alone
remains visible above the surface.

The territory of Djissr Shogher extends as far as Howash; from thence,
southward, begins the district of Kalaat el Medyk. The Sheikh of Howash,
called Mohammed el Omar, is noted in the adjoining districts for his
hospitality; but within bthese few years he

AYN UKTOL.

[p.136]has been reduced from great wealth to poverty by the extortions
of Topal Aly of Djissr Shogher, and of Milly Ismayl of Kalaat el Medyk;
the troops which are continually passing from one place to another are
consuming the last remains of his property. The night we slept at his
house, there were at least fifty people at supper, of whom about thirty
were poor Arabs of his village; the others were all strangers.

We left Howash early in the morning, and rode along the eastern
mountains, in this beautiful valley, which I can compare only to the
valley of the Bekaa between the two Libani; the Ghab, however, has this
great advantage over the Bekaa, that it is copiously watered by a large
river and many rivulets, while the latter, in summer time, has little or
no water. At half an hour from Howash we met with several fragments of
shafts of columns, on the side of an ancient paved causeway. We followed
this causeway for upwards of an hour, although in some places no remains
of it were visible; at the distance of a quarter of an hour (at the rate
of about three miles and a half an hour), from the first heap of
fragments of columns, we met with a similar heap; then at an equal
interval a third, and again a fourth; not more than four columns seemed
to have stood together in any of these places. We conjectured that this
had been a Roman road, and the columns its milliaria. The causeway was
traced here and there farther to the south, but without any appearance
of stations; it probably followed the whole length of the valley from
Apamea to Djissr Shogher. One hour and a quarter from Howash is Ayn
Houyeth [Arabic], a copious spring. The Roman road is here about sixteen
feet in breadth. To the right, in the plain, is the village of Houyeth,
and near it another village, called Ain Uktol [Arabic]. On our right was
a perpendicular rock, upon which were patches of rich verdure. Two hours
and a quarter is Ayn el Taka [Arabic], a large spring, issuing

LAKE EL TAKA.

[p.137]from near the foot of the mountain, and forming a small lake
which communicates with the Orontes. Here are the remains of some
ancient walls. The temperature of this spring, as well as of those which
we passed on the way from Aankye, is like that of water which has been
heated by the sun in the midst of summer: it is probably owing to this
temperature, that we observed such vast numbers of fish in the lake, and
that they resort here in the winter from the Orontes; it is principally
the species called by the Arabs the Black Fish, on account of its ash-
coloured flesh; its length varies from five to eight feet. The fishery
is at present in the hands of the governor of Kalaat el Medyk, who
carries it on, on his own account; the period is from November till the
beginning of January. The fishermen, who are inhabitants of the village
Sherya [Arabic], situated on the borders of the lake, at half an hour's
distance from Ayn el Taka, enjoy a partial exemption from the Miri, or
land-tax; they fish with harpoons during the night, in small boats,
which carry five or six men; and so numerous are the fish, that by
throwing the harpoons at random, they fill their boats in the course of
the night. The quantity taken might be doubled, if there were a ready
market for them. The Kantar, of five hundred and eighty pounds weight,
is sold at about four pounds sterling. The fish are salted on the spot,
and carried all over Syria, and to Cyprus, for the use of the Christians
during their long and rigid fasts. The income derived from this fishery
by the governor of Kalaat el Medyk amounts to about one hundred and
twenty purses, or three thousand pounds sterling. Besides the black
fish, carp are also taken with nets, and carried to Hamah and Homs,
where the Turks are very fond of them. The depth of the lake is about
ten feet; its breadth is quite irregular, being seldom more than half an
hour; its length is about one hour and a half.

One hour from Ayn el Taka, and the lake El Taka, we arrived at


KALAAT EL MEDYK.

[p.138]the foot of the hill upon which stands Kalaat el Medyk [Arabic],
or the castle of Medyk. It probably occupies the site of Apamea: for
there can be little doubt that travellers have been wrong in placing
that city at Hamah, the ancient Epiphania, or at some ruins situated at
four hours distance from Hamah. Notwithstanding our desire to enter the
castle, we could not venture to do so. The governor, Milly Ismayl, a man
eighty-five years of age, and whose name has been well known in Syria
for the last twenty years, was last year, when governor of Hamah,
ordered by the Pasha of Damascus to march with his corps of Dehlys
towards Ladakie, to join the Tripoli army, then fighting against the
Anzeyrys, who inhabit the mountains between Ladakie and Antioch; in
passing by Kalaat el Medyk, on his way to Djissr Shogher, he found the
castle without a garrison, and took possession of it, thereby declaring
himself a rebel. Orders have in consequence been given to strike off his
head. Although his strong fortress enables him to defy these orders, his
dread of being surprised induces him to try every means in his power to
obtain his pardon from the Porte, and he has even sent considerable sums
of money to Constantinople. [Damascus. April 28, 1812.--In the latter
end of March, Milly Ismayl went to Hamah on some private business, and
during his absence with his troops Topal Aly quietly seized upon the
castle. The former now lives in retirement at Hamah, while the power and
reputation of Topal have been thus considerably increased in the
northern parts of Syria.] Under these circumstances my companion and
myself were afraid that he might lay hold of us, in order to make our
deliverance subservient to his purposes; we therefore passed by the foot
of the hill, while we sent in our attendants to buy some provisions. The
castle is built upon an almost insulated hill, communicating on its
eastern side only with the mountain called Djebel

VALLEY OF THE ORONTES.

[p.139]Oerimy [Arabic], the southernmost point of Djebel Shaehsabou,
which turns off here towards the east, and continues for about three
hours in an easterly direction. To the south of Oerimy the undulations
of the mountain continue for about three hours, and terminate in the
plain of Terimsy, of which I shall speak presently. The castle of Medyk
is built of small stones, with several turrets, and is evidently of
modern construction. On the E. side, close to the gate, are ruined
habitations; and to the S. on the declivity of the hill, is a mosque
enclosed by a wall, which forms a kind of out-work to the castle. Within
the castle wall are thirty or forty houses, inhabited by Turks and Greek
Christians. I was told that the only relic of antiquity is a wall in the
governor's palace, built with large blocks of stone. At the western foot
of the hill is a warm sulphureous spring, the water from which forms a
pond; on the edge of the pond I found a fragment of a fine fluted Doric
column. Near the spring is a large Khan for the accommodation of
travellers. On the N. side of the hill are several columns scattered
about.

As we wished to follow the valley of the Orontes as far as possible, we
continued in the direction S. by W. along the plain, instead of taking
the straight road towards Hamah. Half an hour from Kalaat el Medyk is
Ayn Djoufar [Arabic], a rivulet flowing down the eastern hills through
Wady Djoufar; it runs towards the castle, and empties itself into the
pond at the castle spring. Up in the hills, in the direction of Wady
Djoufar, are the villages of Keframbouda [Arabic], Kournas [Arabic],
Sheikh Hadid [Arabic], and Djournye [Arabic], a little beyond Ayn
Djoufar we passed the spring Ayn Abou Attouf [Arabic]. In three quarters
of an hour, another rivulet called Ayn el Sheikh Djouban [Arabic], whose
source is up in the hills. The valley El Ghab continues here of the same
breadth as below. In the plain, about three quarters of

SEKEYLEBYE.

[p.140]an hour from Kalaat el Medyk, is a broad ditch, about fifteen
feet deep, and forty in breadth, which may be traced for an hour and a
half, towards the Orontes; near it is the village El Khandak (or the
Ditch.) This ditch is not paved, and may formerly have served for the
irrigation of the plain.

After proceeding for two hours from the castle, our two guides refused
to go any farther, insisting that it would be impossible to continue
longer in the valley; to say the truth, it was in many parts covered
with water, or deep mud, for the rains had been incessant during several
months, and the road we had already come, from the castle, was with
difficulty passable; we were therefore obliged to yield, and turning to
our left a little way up the hill, rested at the village of Sekeylebye
[Arabic], situated on one of the low hills, near a rivulet called Wady
Sekeylebye. I may here observe that the springs coming from the eastern
mountains of the Ghab never dry up, and scarcely even diminish during
the height of summer.

From a point over the village, which belongs to Hamah, I took the
following bearings: Tel Zeyn Abdein, near Hamah, S.E. Djebel Erbayn,
between Hamah and Homs, S.S.E. The gap which separates the Anti-Libanus
from the northern chain, to the W. of Homs and Hamah, S.by E. The
highest point of Djebel Szoleyb, to the W. of Hamah and Homs, S. Tel
Aasheyrne, in the plain, S. by W., Djebel Maszyad S.W. The eastern
termination of Djebel Shaehsabou N.E. by E. To the S. and E. of
Sekeylebye open the great plains which extend to the desert. To the S.
distant one hour, near the borders of the hills which enclose the valley
of the Ghab on this side, lies the Anzeyry village of Sherrar [Arabic],
a quarter of an hour from whence is an insulated hill called Tel
Amouryn. Two hours southward of Sekeylebye is Tel Aasheyrne, and half an
hour farther, Tel el Shehryh. In the valley,

[p.141]about one hour and a half S.W. of Sekeylebye, lies the village El
Haourat [Arabic], with a ford over the Orontes, where there is a great
carp [Arabic] fishery. On the other side of the river is the insulated
hillock Tel el Kottra [Arabic]. The highest point of the mountain of the
Anzeyrys, on the W. side of the Orontes, appears to be opposite to
Kalaat el Medyk; it is called Kubbet Neby Metta [Arabic], and has a
chapel upon it, dedicated to the saint Metta, who is held in great
veneration by the Anzeyrys. The principal villages in this mountain,
belonging to the Anzeyrys, who live there upon the produce of their
excellent tobacco plantations, are the following: to the W. of Howash,
El Shattha [Arabic], to the S. of it, Merdadj [Arabic], farther S. Aanab
[Arabic]. To the W. of Kalaat el Medyk, Ayn el Keroum [Arabic], a
village whose inhabitants are rebels. To the W. of Ayn Djoban, Fakrou
[Arabic]; above Tel el Kottra, Kalaat el Kebeys [Arabic]. The mountain
belongs to the government of Ladakie, but is immediately under the
Anzeyry chief, El Fakker [Arabic], who resides in the castle of
Szaffytta.

The inhabitants of the Ghab hold the Anzeyrys in contempt for their
religion, and fear them, because they often descend from the mountains
in the night, cross the Aaszy, and steal, or carry off by force, the
cattle of the valley. [A peasant of Sekeylebye enumerated to me the
following villages belonging to the government of Hamah, and situated to
the N. and W. of that town. Beginning east-wards of his own village, he
first mentioned El Sohhrye, then Setouhh, El Deyr, Kfer Djebein, Um
Kaszr, Kassabye, Um el Aamed, Kferambouda, Kornas, El Djeleyme, El
Mogheyer, El Habyt, Kefer Sedjen, Maar Zeyt, Maart Maater, Kefr Ayn,
Kadhyb el Ban, Tel Aas, Kefr Zeyty, El Lattame [Arabic], the principal
village of the district of Hamah, Khan Shiehoun, Maryk, Howeyr, Tel
Berran, Wady Edjfar, Wady Daurat, Maszyn Latmein, Tel Faes, Besseleya,
Meskyn, Tayebe, Um Tennoura, El Hammamye, El Seyh, Seidjar, Khattab,
Meharabe, Helfeya, Bellata, Kefr Behon, Zauran, Mardys, Maar Shour, El
Djadjye, Zeyn Abdein, El Oesher. East and south-east of Hamah are the
ruined villages: Kefr Houn, Ekfer Tab, Um Sedjra, Altouny, Kefr Eydoun,
Sahyan, Marhatal, Heish, Moaka, Wady el Fathh, [Arabic], Kefr Baesein,
El Tahh, El Djofer Djerdjenaes, El Ghatfa, Mart Arab, Aar [Arabic],
Seker, Turky, Etleyl el Szauan, El Temaanaa, El Taamy, El Sheteyb, El
Beleyl, Um Harteyn, El Zekeyat, El Hamra, Kfer Dadein, Maar Zelem,
Naszab, Tel Faes, El Medjdel, Howeyr, Aatshan el Gebeybat, Sydy Aaly,
Djaafar, Berdj el Abyadh, Berdj el Assuad, Kalaat el Ans, Stabelt Antar,
Deh lubby.]

LAKE EL TERIMSY.

[p.142]We passed the night in a half ruined house, without being able to
get any refreshments, although the village belonged to a particular
friend of mine at Hamah; indeed these peasants have scarcely any thing
left to keep themselves from starving.

February 22d--Early this morning we set off in the direction of Hamah,
and after a march of an hour and a half over the plain, reached Tel
Szabba [Arabic], an insulated hillock in the plain; half an hour from it
lies a lake called Behirat Terimsy [Arabic], or, simply El Terimsy. Its
extent is from S.W. to N.E. about five to six miles long by two or three
in breadth; its waters are scarcely any where deeper than five feet; but
the depth of mud at the bottom is so great as to render it fatal for any
one to enter the lake, at least so I was informed by several peasants
who joined us. The water of the lake diminishes considerably in the
summer time, but very seldom dries up entirely; the only instance upon
record was during the great drought in 1810, when it is asserted that
springs were discovered in the bed of the lake. I am not quite certain
whether it communicates on the western side with the Orontes; our guides
were not unanimous in their answers; the river, however, must at least
pass very close to the lake. On the southern borders of the lake are the
Tels or mounds of earth, called Telloul el Fedjera [Arabic]; on the E.
side is the Tel Waoyat [Arabic]. The soil in the vicinity of the lake is
a soft clay; and I had great

SEIDJAR.

[p.143]difficulty in extricating my mare from the swamp as I approached
to reconnoitre the lake, which our company had left to the right of the
road. In the spring the earth hardens and is then covered with most
luxuriant pasturage. In March the peasants and Arabs of all the
neighbouring districts and villages, as well as the inhabitants of
Hamah, send their horses and mules here to graze under the care of
herdsmen, who regularly pitch their tents near the Waoyat, and each of
whom receives a piastre a head from the owners. The cattle remain here
till April. The best pasture seems to be on the S. and E. sides, the
banks of the lake being there lower than on the opposite sides. It was
here, perhaps, that the Seleucidae fed their herds of elephants.

Two hours and a half from Sekeylebye, to the left of the road, is a
ruined mosque, called El Djelame; two hours and a half, Tel el Mellah, a
hillock in the plain. Our road continued through fertile but
uncultivated fields. E. of Tel Mellah about two hours is Tel Szeyad. Af
ter three hours and a half slow march we reached the Orontes, near a
spot where a large wheel, of the same construction as those at Hamah,
raises the water from the river, and empties it into a stone canal, by
means of which the neighbouring fields are irrigated. At the end of four
hours we came to a bridge over the river, on the other side of which the
castle of Seidjar is [Arabic] situated. If I recollect rightly, the
bridge rests upon thirteen arches; it is well built, but of modern
construction. It is placed at the point where the Aaszy issues from
between rugged mountains. On the summit of the range on the left bank
stands the castle. To the S.E. of the castle, on the right bank of the
river, is the tomb of a Sheikh called Aba Aabeyda el Djerrah [Arabic],
and to the S.E. of the latter, the Turkish chapel El Khudher. The
windings of the river in the narrow rocky valley, where no space
intervenes between the water and the base of the mountains, resemble

KALAAT SEIDJAR.

[p.144]those of the Wye in Monmouthshire. At the bridge of Seidjar, it
is nearly as large as the Wye at Chepstow. Just by the bridge is a Khan
of ancient construction; probably of the period of the crusades. A paved
way leads up to the castle, which is at present inhabited by a few
hundred families of peasants. It appears from the style of construction
that the castle as it now stands, is of the time of the latter Califes;
the walls, towers, and turrets, which surround it on the N., W. and S.
sides, are evidently Saracen; but it should seem, from the many remains
of Grecian architecture found in the castle, that a Greek town formerly
stood here. Fragments of columns and elegant Corinthian and Doric
capitals lie dispersed about it: amongst them is a coffin of fine
marble, nine feet long, but I could find no remains of any ancient
building. On the east side the river runs at the foot of a deep
precipice. In the south wall a strong well built tower is still in
perfect preservation; near it is a deep well, and a subterraneous
passage, which, we were informed, leads down to the river side. We
searched in vain for Greek inscriptions; on the above mentioned tower is
a fine Arabic inscription, but too high to be copied by such short-
sighted people as we both happened to be. On the gate of the castle,
which leads through an arched passage into the interior, I copied the
following, in which many foreign words are mixed with the Arabic:

[Arabic].

Part of the declivity of the hill upon which the castle is built is
paved with flat stones, like the castle hills of Aleppo, El Hossn,

PLAIN OF HAMAH.

[p.145]and Szalkhat. In the plain to the S. and S.W. of the castle are
the remains of ancient buildings, which indicate the site of a town;
several fragments of columns, wrought stones, and a great deal of
rubbish, are lying about. We dug up an altar about four feet and a half
high, and one foot and an half square; on one of its four sides was this
inscription:

[Greek].

To the S.W. of the bridge is the tomb of a saint named Sheikh Mahmoud,
which is to the W. of a small village called Haourein [Arabic]. The rock
of the hills, in the neighbourhood of Seidjar, is calcareous, of
considerable hardness, and of a reddish yellow colour; on the S. side of
the castle the rock seems to have been cut perpendicularly down almost
as low as the river, either for the purpose of adding to the defence of
the fortress on this side, or to facilitate the drawing up of water from
the river.

We now crossed the low hills to the south of Seidjar, and entered the
plain of Hamah, which is very little cultivated here. We proceeded in a
south-easterly direction. In one hour and a half from Seidjar we passed
a number of wells cut close to each other in the rocky ground. At one
hour and three quarters is a small bridge over a torrent called El
Saroudj [Arabic], which empties itself into the Orontes. In two hours we
saw to our left, about half an hour distant, the village Hedjam, on the
right bank of the river; in two hours and three quarters, a small
village

HAMAH.

[p.146]called El Shyhy [Arabic], was to our right; at three hours, we
passed the village El Djadjye [Arabic], distant from the left of the
road a quarter of an hour; and near it the village El Kasa. The fertile
soil now begins to be well cultivated. In four hours we reached Hamah,
where we alighted, at the house of Selym Keblan, one of the Mutsellim's
secretaries, the most gentlemanly Levantine I had yet known.

Hamah is situated on both sides of the Orontes; a part of it is built on
the declivity of a hill, and a part in the plain; the quarters in the
plain are called Hadher [Arabic] and El Djissr; those higher up El
Aleyat [Arabic], and El Medine. Medine is the abode of the Christians.
The town is of considerable extent, and must contain at least thirty
thousand inhabitants, of whom the Greek families, according to the
Bishop's information, are about three hundred. In the middle of the city
is a square mound of earth, upon which the castle formerly stood; the
materials, as well as the stones with which it is probable that the hill
was faced, have been carried away and used in the erection of modern
buildings. There are four bridges over the Orontes

in the town. The river supplies the upper town with water by means of
buckets fixed to high wheels (Naoura) [Arabic], which empty themselves
into stone canals, supported by lofty arches on a level with the upper
parts of the town. There are about a dozen of the wheels; the largest of
them, called Naoura el Mohammedye, is at least seventy feet in diameter.
The town, for the greater part, is well built, although the walls of the
dwellings, a few palaces excepted, are of mud; but their interior makes
amends for the roughness of their external appearance. The Mutsellim
resides in a seraglio, on the banks of the river. I enquired in vain for
a piece of marble, with figures in relief, which La Roque saw; but in
the corner of a house in the Bazar is a stone with a number

[p.147]of small figures and signs, which appears to be a kind of
hieroglyphical writing, though it does not resemble that of Egypt. I
counted thirteen mosques in the town, the largest of which has a very
ancient Minaret.

The principal trade of Hamah is with the Arabs, who buy here their tent
furniture and clothes. The Abbas, or woollen mantles made here, are much
esteemed. Hamah forms a part of the province of Damascus, and is usually
the station of three or four hundred horsemen, kept here by the Pasha to
check the Arabs, who inundate the country in spring and summer. Few rich
merchants are found in the town; but it is the residence of many opulent
Turkish gentlemen, who find in it all the luxuries of the large towns,
at the same time that they are in some measure removed from the
extortions of the government. Naszyf Pasha, of the family of Adein, who
has an annual income of about L8000. sterling, has built a very handsome
house here. He is well known for his travels in Europe, and Barbary, and
for his brave defence of Cairo, after the defeat of the Grand Vizir by
General Kleber near Heliopolis. Being curious to see him, I waited upon
him, notwithstanding the rule I had prescribed to myself of mixing as
little as possible with Turkish grandees, and presented him a letter of
recommendation. We conversed for about half an hour; he was very civil
for a Pasha, and made many enquiries concerning Prince Augustus (the
Duke of Sussex), whom he had known in Italy.

The government of Hamah comprises about one hundred and twenty inhabited
villages, and seventy or eighty which have been abandoned. The western
part of its territory is the granary of northern Syria, though the
harvest never yields more than ten for one, chiefly in consequence of
the immense numbers of mice,

[p.148]which sometimes wholly destroy the crops. I did not see any of
these animals.

From a point on the cliff above the Orontes, called El Sherafe, the
traveller enjoys a beautiful view over the town. At one hour and a half
from it lies the Djebel Zeyn Aabdein [Arabic] in the direction N. by E.;
this mountain has two prominent summits, called the Horns of Zeyn
Aabdein [Arabic]; its continuation southward is called Djebel Keysoun,
the highest point of which bears E. 1/2 N.; still farther south it
protrudes in a point in the neighbourhood of Salamie, which bears S.E.
and is called Djebel el Aala, upon which stands the castle called Kalaat
Shemmasye [Arabic]. To the S. of Hamah, two hours distant, lies an
insulated chalky mountain, two or three hours in length, from west to
east, called Djebel Erbayn; its highest point bearing from Hamah S. 1/2
E. The Orontes flows on its E. side.

The Aaszy irrigates a great number of gardens belonging to Hamah, which
in winter time are generally inundated. Whereever the gardens lie higher
than the river, wheels like those already mentioned are met with in the
narrow valley, for the purpose of raising up water to them. In summer
the water of the river is quite clear.

February 27th.--We remained five days in the hospitable house of Selym,
where a large company of Turks and Arabs assembled every evening; and it
was with difficulty that we could prevail upon him to let us depart. The
distance between Hamah and Tripoli, by the direct road, is four days, or
three days by performing on the first a thirteen hours journey from
Hamah to Hossn; but we wished to visit the castle of Maszyad, the seat
of the Ismaylys, which is laid down upon most of the maps of Syria, but
has rarely been visited by any travellers. We set out about mid-day, and
travelling in a S.W.

SHYGHATA.

[p.149]direction came in an hour and a half to the Christian village
Kefrbehoun Arabic]; and in two hours, to a hillock in the plain called
Tel Afyoun [Arabic], i.e. the opium-hill, with an ancient well. The
number of these insulated mounds of earth in the eastern plain of Syria
is very remarkable; their shape is sometimes so regular, that there can
be no doubt of their being artificial; in several places there are two
standing close together. It is a general remark that wherever there is
such a mound, a village is found near it, and a spring, or at least an
ancient well. At two hours and a half from Hamah is El Dobbe, a small
village near the road: here the ground begins to be uneven, covered with
rocks, and little fit for cultivation. At three hours and three quarters
is Tel Mowah [Arabic] upon elevated ground, with the ruins of a
considerable village; from hence Tel Afyoun bears W. 1/2 S., Hamah
E.N.E., Homs S.S.E. In four hours and a half we came to considerable
heaps of large hewn stones, and ruined habitations, called El Feiryouny
[Arabic], where a few families of Kurdines had pitched their tents. On
the side of the road is a large and very neatly cut ancient well. The
face of the country is hilly with a rocky soil, here and there
cultivated. At the end of five hours and a half we reached Byszyn
[Arabic], a village inhabited by Anzeyrys, where we slept.

February 28th.--One hour and a half from Byszyn is the village of
Shyghata [Arabic] The road ascends, through a rocky country, overgrown
with shrubs and low trees. At two hours and a half is a ruined bridge
over the winter torrent El Saroudj, which we had passed in the plain
below, between Seidjar and Hamah; it was now so much swelled by the
heavy rains, that we were trying in vain to cross it in different
places, when a shepherd came to our assistance, and shewed us a ford.
Considerable as the stream was, it is dried up in summer. We proceeded
from the bridge in a W.N.W. direction, and, after a march of an hour and
three quarters, during [p.150]which we crossed several torrents, we
reached the castle of Maszyad [Arabic], or, as it is written in the
books of the Miri, Meszyaf [Arabic]. The approach to the castle on two
sides is across a large moor; to the N. of it are the highest points of
the mountain of Maszyad, at the foot of which it stands, upon a high and
almost perpendicular rock, commanding the wild moor in every direction,
and presenting a gloomy romantic landscape. On the W. side is a valley,
where the inhabitants cultivate wheat and barley. The town of Maszyad is
built between the castle and the mountain, on the declivity of the
mountain; it is upwards of half an hour in circumference, but the houses
are in ruins, and there is not a single well built dwelling in the town,
although stone is the only material used. The town is surrounded by a
modern wall, and has three stone gates, of more ancient construction; on
one of them I saw the following inscription:

[Arabic].

The last line, as I was told by a man of Tripoli, contains the names of
some of the deities of the Ismaylys. The mosque is now in ruins. There
are several Arabic inscriptions in different parts of the town, which
are all of the time of El Melek el Dhaher [Arabic]. The castle is
surrounded by a wall of moderate thickness; and contains a few private
habitations. Near the entrance, which is arched, stands a Corinthian
capital, of indifferent workmanship, the only remain of Grecian
architecture that I saw here. Within this gate is an arched passage,
through which the road ascends to the inner and highest parts of the
castle. Upon the vault I read the following inscription in large
characters:--[Arabic]

MASZYAD.

[p.151]"The deed (or fabric) of the Mamlouk Kosta." On the top of the
rock are some apartments belonging to the castle; which appear to have
had several floors. From a Kyosk, which the present governor has built
here, there is a beautiful view down into the western valley. Maszyad is
remarkable from being the chief seat of the religious sect called
Ismayly [Arabic]. Enquiries have often been made concerning the
religious doctrines of this sect, as well as those of the Anzeyrys and
Druses. Not only European travellers, and Europeans resident in Syria,
but many natives of influence, have endeavoured to penetrate the
mysteries of these idolaters, without success, and several causes
combine to make it probable, that their doctrines will long remain
unknown. The principal reason is, that few individuals among them become
acquainted with the most important and secret tenets of their faith; the
generality contenting themselves with the observance of some exterior
practices, while the arcana are possessed by the select few. It will be
asked, perhaps, whether their religious books would not unveil the
mystery? It is true that all the different sects possess books, which
they regard as sacred, but they are intelligible only to the initiated.
A sacred book of the Anzeyrys fell into the hands of a chief of the army
of Youssef Pasha, which plundered the castles of that sect in 1808; it
came afterwards into the possession of my friend Selym of Hamah, who had
destined it as a present to me; but he was prevailed upon to part with
it to a travelling physician, and the book is now in the possession of
M. Rousseau, the French consul at Aleppo, who has had it translated into
French, and means to publish it; but it will probably throw little light
upon the question. Another difficulty arises from the extreme caution of
the Ismaylys upon this subject whenever they are obliged to visit any
part of the country under the Turkish government, they assume the
character of Mussulmans; being

[p.152]well aware that if they should be detected in the practice of any
rite contrary to the Turkish religion, their hypocrisy, in affecting to
follow the latter, would no longer be toleraled; and their being once
clearly known to be pagans, which they are only suspected to be at
present, would expose them to the heaviest exactions, and might even be
followed by their total expulsion or extirpation. Christians and Jews
are tolerated because Mohammed and his immediate successors granted them
protection, and because the Turks acknowledge Christ and the prophets;
but there is no instance whatever of pagans being tolerated.

The Ismaylys are generally reported to adore the pudendum muliebre, and
to mix on certain days of the year in promiscuous debauchery. When they
go to Hamah they pray in the mosque, which they never do at Kalaat
Maszyad. This castle has been from ancient times their chief seat. One
of them asserted that his religion descended from Ismayl, the son of
Abraham, and that the Ismaylys had been possessed of the castle since
the time of El Melek el Dhaher, as acknowledged by the Firmahns of the
Porte. A few years since they were driven out of it by the Anzeyrys, in
consequence of a most daring act of treachery. The Anzeyrys and Ismaylys
have always been at enmity, the consequence, perhaps, of some religious
differences. In 1807, a tribe of the former having quarrelled with their
chief, quitted their abode in their mountains, and applied to the Emir
of Maszyad for an asylum. The latter, glad of an opportunity to divide
the strength of his enemies, readily granted the request, and about
three hundred, with their Sheikh Mahmoud, settled at Maszyad, the Emir
carrying his hospitality so far as to order several families to quit the
place, for the purpose of affording room for the new settlers. For
several months all was tranquil, till one day, when the greater part of
the people were at work in the fields, the Anzeyrys, at a given signal,

[p.153]killed the Emir and his son in the castle, and then fell upon the
Ismaylys who had remained in their houses, sparing no one they could
find, and plundering at the same time the whole town. On the following
day the Anzeyrys were joined by great numbers of their countrymen, which
proved that their pretended emigration had been a deep-laid plot; and
the circumstance of its being kept secret for three months by so great a
number of them, serves to shew the character of the people. About three
hundred Ismaylys perished on this occasion; the families who had escaped
in the sack of the town, fled to Hamah, Homs, and Tripoli, and their
treacherous enemies successfully attacked three other Ismayly castles in
the mountain. The Ismaylys then implored the protection of Youssef
Pasha, at that time governor of Damascus, who marched with four or five
thousand men against the Anzeyrys, retook the castles which had belonged
to the Ismaylys, but kept the whole of the plunder of the Anzeyrys to
himself. This castle of Maszyad, with a garrison of forty men, resisted
his whole army for three months.

In 1810, after Youssef Pasha had been exiled by the Porte, the Ismaylys
who had fled to Hamah, Homs, and Tripoli returned, and Maszyad is now
inhabited by about two hundred and fifty Ismayly families, and by thirty
of Christians. The chief, who resides in the castle, is styled Emir; his
name is Zogheby [Arabic], of the family of Soleiman; he informed me that
his family had been possessors of the Emirship from remote times, and
that they are recognised as such by express Firmahns from the Porte;
Zogherby is a nephew of Mustafa, the Emir who was slain by the Anzeyrys.
Some of his relations command in the Ismayly castles of El Kadmous, El
Kohf, El Aleyka, and El Merkah, in the mountains towards Ladakie. After
what has lately taken place, it

[p.154]extreme: they are, apparently, at peace, but many secret murders
are committed: "Do you suppose," said a handsome young man to me, while
his eyes flashed with anger, "that these whiskers shall turn gray before
I shall have taken my revenge for a slaughtered wife and two infant
children?" But the Ismaylys are weak; I do not think that they can
muster eight hundred fire-locks, while the Anzeyrys are triple that
number.

The principal produce of the neighbourhood of Maszyad is silk. They have
large plantations of mulberry trees, which are watered by numerous
rivulets descending on all sides from the mountain into the valley; and
as few of them dry up in summer, this must be a delightful residence
during the hot season. There are three or four Ismayly villages in the
neighbourhood of Maszyad.

From the castle the ruins called Deir Szoleib bear W. distant about two
hours and a half. I was told that there are large buildings at that
place constructed with immense blocks of stone, and bearing infidel
inscriptions; but the natives of these countries are unable to
distinguish sculptured ornaments from letters in unknown languages, and
travellers are often deceived by reports of long inscriptions, which
prove to be nothing more than a few decorations of architecture.

February 29th.--Having been disappointed in our hopes of finding any
thing remarkable at Kalaat el Maszyad, we directed our course to
Tripoli. We began to fear that the incessant rains would make the
torrents impassable, particularly the Saroudj, which we crossed
yesterday. The Emir gave us one of his men to guide and protect us
through his territories. After travelling for an hour and a half across
the moor, along the side of the upper ridge of the mountains of Maszyad,
we arrived at the village Soeida, near to which is the Mezar Sheikh
Mohammed, with some plantations of mulberry trees. E. of it half an hour
is

NYSZAF.

[p.155]Kherbet Maynye, a ruined village, with some ancient buildings;
and in the mountain above it, the ruined castles Reszafa [Arabic], and
Kalaat el Kaher [Arabic]. There are several other ruined castles in this
district, which appear to have been all built about the twelfth century.
At two hours and a half is Beyadhein [Arabic] a village inhabited by
Turkmans; to the E. of it, about half an hour, is a Tel in the plain,
with an arched building upon it called Kubbet el Aadera, or the dome of
the Virgin Mary, reported to be the work of the Empress Helena. On the
summit of a mountain S. of the village, one hour, is the ruined castle
Barein [Arabic]. Near Beyadhein we crossed the torrent Saroudj a second
time; its different branches inundated the whole plain. Two hours and a
half is the village Kortouman [Arabic], inhabited by Turkmans, from
whence Maszyad bears N. by W. Here we passed another torrent, near a
mill, and in a storm of heavy rain and thunder reached Nyszaf, three
hours and three quarters from Maszyad, the road from Kortouman lying S.
by W. for the greater part in the plain.

Nyszaf is a considerable village, with large plantations of mulberry
trees. It is inhabited by Turks and Anzeyrys. The mountain to the
eastward, on the declivity of which it is built, is peopled by Turkmans,
the greater part of whom do not speak Arabic. We dried our clothes at a
fire in the Sheikh's house, and took some refreshment; we then ascended
the mountain to the S. of the village, and my guides, who were afraid of
the road through the upper part of the mountain, refusing to proceed, we
halted for the night at Shennyn [Arabic], an Anzeyry village halfway up
the mountain. The declivity of the mountain is covered with vineyards,
growing upon narrow terraces, constructed to prevent the rain from
washing away the soil. From the grapes is extracted the Debs, which they
sell at Hamah; three quintals of grapes are

SHENNYN.

[p.156]necessary to make one quintal of Debs, which was sold last year
at the rate of L1. per quintal.

As our hosts appeared to be good natured people, I entered, after
supper, into conversation with them, with a view to obtain some
information upon their religious tenets; but they were extremely
reserved upon this head. I had heard that the Anzeyrys maintained from
time to time some communication with the East Indies, and that there was
a temple there belonging to their sect, to which they occasionally sent
messengers. In the course of our conversation I said that I knew there
were some Anzeyrys in the East Indies; they were greatly amazed at this,
and enquired how I had obtained my information: and their countenances
seemed to indicate that there was some truth in my assertion. They are
divided into different sects, of which nothing is known except the
names, viz. Kelbye, Shamsye, and Mokladjye. Some are said to adore the
sun and the stars, and others the pudendum muliebre. The Mokledjye wear
in their girdle a small iron hook, which they use when making water; it
is also said that they prostrate themselves every morning before their
naked mothers, saying [Arabic], and it is asserted that they have a
promiscuous intercourse with their females in a dark apartment every
Friday night; but these are mere reports. It is a fact, however, that
they entertain the curious belief that the soul ought to quit the dying
person's body by the mouth. And they are extremely cautious against any
accident which they imagine may prevent it from taking that road. For
this reason, whenever the government of Ladakie or Tripoli condemns an
Anzeyry to death, his relations offer considerable sums, that he may be
empaled instead of hanged. I can vouch for the truth of this belief,
which proves at least that they have some idea of a future state. It
appears that

WADY ROWYD.

[p.157]there are Anzeyrys in Anatolia and at Constantinople. Some years
since a great man of this sect died in the mountain of Antioch, and the
water with which his corpse had been washed was carefully put into
bottles and sent to Constantinople and Asia Minor.

March lst.--The weather having cleared up a little, we set out early,
and in an hour and a half reached the top of the mountain, from whence
we enjoyed a beautiful view to the east over the whole plain, and to the
W. and S. towards Hossn and the Libanus. Hamah bore E.N.E. and Kalaat
Maszyad N. by E. The castle of Hossn bore S.S.W. This part of the
mountain is called Merdj el Dolb [Arabic] or Dhaheret Hadsour [Arabic].
On the top there is fine pasturage, with several springs. To the left,
half an hour, is the high point called Dhaheret Koszeir, where is a
ruined castle; this summit appears to be the highest point of the chain.
The summit, on the western declivity, is the copious spring called Near
Ayn Kydrih [Arabic]. In two hours we came to the village Hadsour, on the
western side of the mountain, with the Mezar Sheikh Naszer. The country
to the west of the summit belongs to the government of the district of
Hossn. We now descended into the romantic valley Rowyd [Arabic], full of
mulberry and other fruit trees, with a torrent rolling in the bottom of
it. At the end of two hours and three quarters is the village
Doueyrellin [Arabic], on the E. side of the Wady; on its W. side, in a
higher situation, stands the village El Keyme; and one hour farther, to
the S. of the latter, on the same side, is the village El Daghle
[Arabic]. We crossed the Wady at the foot of the mountain, and continued
along its right bank, on the slope of the mountain, through orchards and
fields, till we arrived at the foot of the mountain upon which Kalaat el
Hossn is built. Our horses being rather fatigued, we sent them on to
Deir Djordjos, (the convent of St. George), where we intended

LALAAT EL HOSSN.

[p.158]to sleep, and walked up to the castle, which is distant six hours
and a half from Shennyn. It is built upon the top of an insulated hill,
which communicates on its western side only, with the chain of mountains
we had passed. Below the walls of the castle, on the east side, is the
town of Hossn, consisting of about one hundred and fifty houses. The
castle is one of the finest buildings of the middle age I ever saw. It
is evidently of European construction; the lions, which are carved over
the gate, were the armorial bearings of the Counts of Thoulouse, whose
name is often mentioned in the history of the crusades. It is surrounded
by a deep paved ditch, on the outside of which runs a wall flanked with
bastions and towers. The walls of the castle itself are very regularly
constructed, and are ornamented in many places with high gothic arches,
projecting several feet from the wall. The inner castle, which is
seventy paces in breadth, and one hundred and twenty in length, is
defended by bastions. A broad staircase, under a lofty arched passage,
leads up from the gate into the castle, and was accessible to horsemen.
In the interior we particularly admired a large saloon, of the best
Gothic architecture, with arches intersecting each on the roof. In the
middle of a court-yard we noticed a round pavement of stones elevated
about a foot and a half above the ground, and eighteen paces in
diameter; we could not account for its use; it is now called El Sofra,
or the table. There are many smaller apartments in the castle, and
several gothic chambers, most of which are in perfect preservation;
outside the castle an aqueduct is still standing, into which the rain
water from the neighbouring hills was conducted by various channels, and
conveyed by the aqueduct into the castle ditch, which must have served
as a reservoir for the use of the garrison, while it added at the same
time to the strength of the fortress. Figures of lions are seen in
various places on the outer wall, as well as Arabic inscriptions,

MAR DJORDJOS.

[p.159]which were too high to be legible from below. In other places,
amidst half effaced inscriptions, the name of El Melek el Dhaher is
distinguished. I saw no Greek inscriptions, nor any remains of Grecian
architecture. The following is upon a stone at the entrance of one of
the peasants' huts, of which there are about fifty within the castle and
on the parapets:

[Latin].

There are roses sculptured over the entrance of several apartments.

If Syria should ever again become the theatre of European warfare, this
castle would be an important position; in its neighbourhood the Libanus
terminates and the mountains of northern Syria begin; it therefore
commands the communication from the eastern plains to the sea shore. El
Hossn is the chief place of a district belonging to the government of
Hamah; the Miri is rented of the Pasha of Damascus, by the Greek family
of El Deib, who are the leading persons here. There is an Aga in the
castle, with a few men for its defence. Having examined Hossn, we
descended to the convent of Mar Djordjos (St. George), which lies half
an hour to the N.W. and there passed the night. In the Wady towards the
convent chestnut trees grow wild; I believe they are found in no other
part of Syria. The Arabs call them Abou Feroue [Arabic], i.e.
"possessing a fur."

March 2d.--The Greek convent of St. George is famous throughout Syria,
for the miracles which the saint is said to perform there. It is
inhabited by a prior and three monks, who live in a state of

SZAFFYTTA.

[p.160]affluence; the income of the convent being very considerable,
passengers of all descriptions are fed gratis, and as it stands in the
great road from Hamah to Tripoli, guests are never wanting. The common
entertainment is Bourgul, with bread and olives; to Christians of
respectability wine is added. The convent has large vine and olive
plantations in its neighbourhood; it collects alms all over Syria,
Anatolia, and the Greek islands, and by a Firmahn of the Porte, is
declared to be free from all duties to the Pasha. Youssef Pasha of
Damascus, however, made them pay forty thousand piastres, on the
pretence that they had built a Khan for poor passengers without his
permission. The prior, who is chosen by the brotherhood of the convent,
is elected for life, and is under the immediate direction of the
Patriarch of Damascus. Caravans generally stop at the Khan, while
respectable travellers sleep in the convent itself. A spring near the
convent is said to flow only at intervals of two or three days. The
prior told me that the convent was built at the same time with the
castle of Hossn.

We left Mar Djordjos in a heavy rain, descended into the Wady Mar
Djordjos, and after two hours slight descent reached the plain near a
spring called Neba el Khalife [Arabic], round which are some ancient
walls. A vast plain now opened before us, bordered on the west by the
sea, which, however, was not yet distinguishable; on the N. by the
mountains of Tartous, on the E. by the Anzeyrys mountains, and on the
south by the Djebel Shara [Arabic], which is the lower northern
continuation of the Djebel Libnan and Djebel Akkar. To the right,
distant about three hours, we saw the castle of Szaffytta [Arabic], the
principal seat of the Anzeyry, where their chief El Fakker resides. It
is situated on the declivity of the Anzeyry mountains; near it stands an
ancient tower, called Berdj Mar Mykhael, or St. Michael's Tower. About
seven hours from Szaffytta, towards Kalaat Maszyadt,

[p.161]are the ruins of a temple now called Hassn Soleiman, which,
according to all reports, is very deserving of the traveller's notice;
as indeed are all the mountains of Szaffytta, and the whole Anzeyry
territory, where are the castles of Merkab, Khowabe, Kadmous, El Aleyka,
El Kohf, Berdj Tokhle, Yahmour, Berdj Miar, Areyme, and several others.
It would take ten days to visit these places.

We continued along the foot of the hills which form the Djebel Shara;
they are inhabited by Turkmans and Kurdines. We passed several torrents,
and had great difficulty in getting through the swampy soil. After a
march of five hours and a half, we came to a rivulet, which had swollen
so much from the rain of last night and this day that we could not
venture to pass it. We found several peasants who were as anxious to
cross it as ourselves, but who could not get their mules over. As the
rain had ceased, we waited on the banks for the decrease of the waters,
which is usually as rapid as their rise, but it soon appeared that the
rain still continued to fall in the mountains, for the stream, instead
of decreasing, became much larger. In this difficulty we had to choose
between returning to the convent and sleeping in the open air on the
banks of the rivulet; we preferred the latter, and passed an
uncomfortable night on the wet ground. By daylight the waters had so far
decreased, that we passed over without any accident.

March 3rd.--On the opposile side we met with another and larger branch
of the same stream, and at the end of an hour and a quarter reached the
Nahr el Kebir (the ancient Eleutherus), near a ruined bridge. This is a
large torrent, dangerous at this period of the year from its rapidity.
The Hamah caravans have been known to remain encamped on its banks for
weeks together, without being able to cross it. On the opposite side
stands a Khan, called Ayash, with the tomb of the saint, Sheikh Ayash
[Arabic],

TEL ARKA.

[p.162]which is usually the third day's station of the caravans from
Hamah to Tripoli. Having crossed the river we followed the northern
swellings of the mountain Akkar in a S.W. direction, having the plain
all the way on our right. In one hour and a quarter from the Khan, we
passed at half an hour's distance to the S. an insulated hillock in the
plain, on which are some ruined buildings called Kella [Arabic], and to
the east of it half an hour, another hillock called Tel Aarous [Arabic];
and at the same distance S.E. of the latter, the village Haytha
[Arabic].

At two hours and a quarter from the Khan Ayash we passed the torrent
Khereybe, coming down the Wady of that name, on our left, and the castle
and village Khereybe, at a quarter of an hour from the road. Two hours
and three quarters, is the village Halbe, on the declivity of the
mountain. Three hours and a half, an old mosque upon the mountain above
the road, with a village called El Djamaa ([Arabic] the mosque). Near to
it, and where the mountains runs out in a point towards the north, is a
hill called Tel Arka, which appears by its regularly flattened conical
form and smooth sides to be artificial. I was told that on its top are
some ruins of habitations, and walls. Upon an elevation on its E. and S.
sides, which commands a beautiful view over the plain, the sea, and the
Anzeyry mountains, are large and extensive heaps of rubbish, traces of
ancient dwellings, blocks of hewn stone, remains of walls, and fragments
of granite columns; of the latter I counted eight, six of which were of
gray, and the other two of fine red granite. Here then must have stood
the ancient town of Arca, where Alexander Severus was born: the hill was
probably the citadel, or a temple may have stood on its top. On the west
side of the hill runs the deep valley Wady Akka, with a torrent of the
same name, which we passed, over a bridge near a mill. From thence the
direction of our road continued W.S.W. From an elevated spot, at four

TRIPOLI.

[p.163]hours and a half, Sheikh Ayash bore N.E. b. N. In five hours we
reached the sea-shore; the sea here forms a bay extending from the point
of Tartous as far as Tripoli. We now turned round the mountains on our
left, along the sea-beach, and passed several tents of Turkmans. Five
hours and a half, at a short distance to the left, is an ancient tower
on the slope of the mountain, called Abou Hannein [Arabic]. Five hours
and three quarters is Khan el Bered, with a bridge over the Nahr el
Bered, or cold river. At six hours and a half is the village Menny, to
the left, at the foot of the mountain, the road lying through a low
plain half an hour in breadth, between the mountain called Torboul and
the sea; that part only which is nearest to the mountain is cultivated.
In nine hours we arrived at Tripoli, and alighted at the house of the
English agent Mr. Catziflis.

This city, which is called Tarabolos by the Arabs, and Tripoli by the
Greeks and Italians, is built on the declivity of the lowest hills of
the Libanus, and is divided by the Nahr Kadisha [Kadisha, in the Syrian
language, means the holy [Arabic], the proper name of the river is Nahr
Abou Ali.] into two parts, of which the southern is the most
considerable. On the N. side of the river, upon the summit of the hill,
stands the tomb of Sheikh Abou Naszer, and opposite to it, on the S.
side, the castle, built in the time of the crusades; this castle has
often been in a ruined state, but it has lately been put into complete
repair by Berber Aga. Many parts of Tripoli bear marks of the ages of
the crusades; amongst these are several high arcades of gothic
architecture, under which the streets run. In general the town is well
built, and is much embellished by the gardens, which are not only
attached to the houses in the town, but cover likewise the whole
triangular plain lying between it and the sea. Tripoli stands in

[p.164]one of the most favoured spots in all Syria; as the maritime
plain and neighbouring mountains place every variety of climate within a
short distance of the inhabitants. The Wady Kadisha, higher up than
Tripoli, is one of the most picturesque valleys I ever saw. At half an
hour from the town is an aqueduct across the Wady, built upon arches;
the natives call it Kontaret el Brins [Arabic], a corruption, perhaps,
of Prince. It conveys the water used for drinking, into the town, by
means of a canal along the left bank of the Kadisha. A few yards above
the aqueduct is a bridge across the stream.

I estimate the inhabitants of Tripoli at about fifteen thousand; of
these one-third are Greek Christians, over whom a bishop presides. I was
told that the Greeks are authorized, by the Firmahns of the Porte, to
prevent any schismatic Greek from entering the town. This may not be the
fact;--it is however certain, that whenever a schismatic is discovered
here, he is immediately thrown into prison, put in irons, and otherwise
very ill-treated. Such a statement can be credited by those only who are
acquainted with the fanatism of the eastern Christians. There is no
public building in the town deserving of notice. The Serai was destroyed
during the rebellion of Berber. The Khan of the soap manufacturers is a
large well built edifice, with a water basin in the middle of it.

Ten minutes above the town, in the Wady Kadisha, is a convent of
Derwishes, most picturesquely situated above the river, but at present
uninhabited. At half an hour's walk below the town, at the extreme angle
of the triangular plain, is El Myna, or the port of Tripoli, which is
itself a small town; the interjacent plain was formerly covered with
marshes, which greatly injured the air; but the greater part of them
have been drained, and converted into gardens. The remains of a wall may
still be traced [p.165]across the triangular plain; from which it
appears that the western point was the site of the ancient city;
wherever the ground is dug in that direction the foundations of houses
and walls are found; indeed it is with stones thus procured that the
houses in the Myna are built.

From the Myna northward to the mouth of the Kadisha runs a chain of six
towers, at about ten minutes walk from each other, evidently intended
for the defence of the harbour; around the towers, on the shore, and in
the sea, lie a great number of columns of gray granile; there are at
least eighty of them, of about a foot and a quarter in diameter, lying
in the sea; many others have been built into the walls of the towers as
ornaments. To each of the towers the natives have given a name. The most
northern is called Berdj Ras el Nahr, from its being near the Kadisha;
those to the south are Berdj el Dekye, Berdj el Sebaa [Arabic], or the
lion's tower;[The natives say, that on the shield carved above The
gateway of this tower two lions were formerly visible.--These were the
arms of Count Raymond de Thoulouse. I saw at Tripoli a leaden seal of
the Count, with a tower, meant probably for the Berdj el Sebaa, on the
reverse.] Berdj el Kanatter [Arabic]; Berdj el Deyoun [Arabic], and
Berdj el Mogharabe [Arabic].

The harbour of Tripoli is formed by a line of low rocks, stretching from
the point of the Myna about two miles into the sea, towards the north;
they are called by the natives Feitoun [Arabic]. On the north the point
of Tartous in some measure breaks the impetuosity of the sea; but when
the northern winds blow with violence, vessels are often driven on
shore. In a N.N.W. direction from the harbour extends a line of small
islands, the farthest of which is about ten miles distant from the main
land. They are named as follow: El Bakar [Arabic], which is nearest to
the harbour, Billan [Arabic], about half a mile in circumference, with
remains of [p.166]ancient habitations, and several deep wells; there are
several smaller rocks, comprised under the general name of El Mekattya
[Arabic], whose respective appellations are, [Arabic]--next is Sennenye
[Arabic], Nakhle, or El Eraneb [Arabic], with several palm trees,
formerly inhabited by a great number of rabbits; El Ramkein [Arabic],
and Shayshet el Kadhi [Arabic].

The inhabitants of the Myna are chiefly Greek sailors or ship-wrights; I
found here half a dozen small country ships building or repairing. There
is also a good Khan. On the southern side of the triangular plain is a
sandy beach, where the sand in some places has formed itself by
concretion into rocks, in several of which are large cisterns. In the
bottom of the bay formed by the plain and by the continuation of the
shore to the south, is a spring of sweet water, and near it large
hillocks of sand, driven up from the shore by the westerly winds. The
sea abounds in fish and shell fish; the following are the names of the
best, in French and Arabic; they were given to me by a French merchant,
who has long resided in Tripoli; Dorade [Arabic], Rouget [Arabic], Loupe
[Arabic], Severelle [Arabic], Leeche [Arabic], Mulaye [Arabic], Maire
noir [Arabic], Maire blanc [Arabic], Vieille [Arabic]; these are caught
with small baskets into which bait is put; the orifice being so made
that if the fish enters, he cannot get out again. It is said that no
other fish are ever found in the baskets. The names of some others fit
for the table are Pajot ([Arabic or Arabic]). [Arabic]. [Arabic], and
[Arabic].

Half an hour north of Tripoli, on the road we came by, is the tomb of
Sheikh El Bedawy, with a copious spring near it, enclosed by a wall; it
contains a great quantity of fish, which are considered sacred by the
Turks of Tripoli, and are fed daily by the guardians of the tomb, and by
the Tripolitans; no person dares kill any of them; they are, as the
Turks express it, a Wakf to the tomb. The same kind of fish is found in
the Kadisha.

[p.167]The commerce of Tripoli has decreased lately, in proportion with
that of the entire commerce of Syria. There are no longer any Frank
establishments, and the few Franks who still remain are in the greatest
misery. A French consul, however, resides here, M. Guys, an able
antiquary, and who was very liberal in his literary communications to
us. He has a very interesting collection of Syrian medals. Mr.
Catziflis, who is a Greek, is a very respectable man, and rendered
considerable services to the English army during the war in Egypt. He is
extremely attentive and hospitable to English travellers.

The principal commerce of Tripoli is in silk produced upon the mountain,
of which it exports yearly about 800 quintals or cwt., at about L80.
sterling per quintal. Formerly the French merchants used to take silk in
return for their goods, as it was difficult to obtain money in the
Levantine trade; it is true that they sold it to a disadvantage in
France; yet not so great as they would have done had they insisted on
being reimbursed ready money, upon which they must have paid the
discount. The silk was bought up at Marseilles by the merchants of
Barbary, who thus procured it at a lower rate than they could do at
Tripoli. This intercourse however has ceased in consequence of the ruin
of French trade, and the Moggrebyns now visit Tripoli themselves, in
search of this article, bringing with them colonial produce, indigo, and
tin, which they buy at Malta. The sale of West India coffee has of late
increased greatly in Syria; the Turks have universally adopted the use
of it, because it is not more than half the price of Mokha coffee; a
considerable market is thus opened to the West India planters, which is
not likely to be interrupted, until the Hadj is regularly re-
established, the principal traffic of which was in coffee.

The next chief article of exportation is sponges; they are procured on
the sea shore; but the best are found at a little depth in

[p.168]the sea. The demand for them during the last two years has been
very trifling; but I was told that fifty bales of twelve thousand
sponges each might be yearly furnished; their price is from twenty-five
to forty piastres per thousand. Soap is exported to Tarsous, for
Anatolia and the Greek islands, as well as alkali for its manufacture,
which is procured in the eastern desert. It is a curious fact, that soap
should also be imported into Tripoli from Candia; the reason is that the
Cretan soap contains very little alkali; here one-fourth of its weight
of alkali is added to it, and in this state it is sold to advantage. The
other exports are about one hundred or one hundred and twenty quintals
of galls from the Anzeyry mountains: of yellow wax, from Libanus, about
one hundred and twenty quintals, at about one hundred and fifty piastres
per quintal; of Rubia tinctorum [Arabic], which grows in the plains of
Homs and Hamah, about fourteen hundred quintals, at from twenty to
twenty-four piastres per quintal; of scammony, very little; of tobacco,
a few quintals, which are sent to Egypt.

The territory of Tripoli extends over the greater part of Mount Libanus.
The Pashalik is divided into the following districts, or Mekatta
[Arabic], as they are called: viz. El Zawye [Arabic], or the lower part
of Mount Libanus to the right of the Kadisha,--Djebbet Bshirrai
[Arabic], which lies round the village of that name near the Cedars.--El
Kella [Arabic],--El Koura [Arabic], or the lower part of Mount Libanus
to the left of the Kadisha.--El Kattaa [Arabic], or the mountains
towards Batroun;--Batroun [Arabic],--Djebail [Arabic],--El Fetouh, over
Djebail, as far as Kesrouan.--Akkar [Arabic], the northern declivity of
Mount Libanus, a district governed at present by Aly Beg, a man famous
for his generosity, liberality, and knowledge of Arabian literature.--El
Shara [Arabic], also under the government of Aly Beg.--El Dhannye
[Arabic].--The mountains to the N. and N.W. of Bshirrai.--El Hermel
[Arabic], towards Baalbec, on the

[p.169] eastern declivity of the Libanus; Szaffeita [Arabic], and
Tartous [Arabic]. The greater part of the mountaineers are Christians;
in Bshirrai they are all Christians; in Akkar, Shara, and Koura, three-
fourths are Christians. The Metawelis have possessions at Djebail,
Dhannye, and Hermel. About eighty years since the latter peopled the
whole district of Bshirrai, El Zawye, Dhannye, and part of Akkar; but
the Turk and Christian inhabitants, exasperated by their vexatious
conduct, called in the Druses, and with their assistance drove out the
Metawelis. Since that period, the Druses have been masters of the whole
mountain, as well as of a part of the plain. The Emir Beshir pays to the
Pasha of Tripoli, for the Miri of the mountain, one hundred and thirty
purses, and collects for himself upwards of six hundred purses. The
duties levied upon the peasants in this district are generally
calculated by the number of Rotolas of silk which the peasant is
estimated to get yearly from his worms; the taxes on the mulberry trees
are calculated in proportion to those on the silk. The peasant who rears
silk-worms is reckoned to pay about twenty or twenty-five per cent. on
his income, while he who lives by the produce of his fields pays more
than fifty per cent.

I obtained the following information respecting the modern history of
the Pashas of Tripoli.

Fettah Pasha, of three tails, was driven out of Tripoli by the
inhabitants, about 1768, after having governed a few years. He was
succeeded by Abd-er-rahman Pasha, but the rebels still maintained their
ascendancy in the town. He had formerly been Kapydji for the Djerde or
caravan, which departs annually from Tripoli to meet the Mekka caravan
on its return. He made Mustafa, the chief of the rebels, his Touenkdji,
and submitted to his orders, till he found an opportunity of putting him
to death at Ladakie, whither he had gone to collect the Miri. The town
was at the

[p.170]same time surprised, the castle taken, and all the ring-leaders
killed. Abd-er-rahman Pasha governed for about two years.

Youssef Pasha, the son of Othman Pasha of Damascus, of the family of
Adm, governed for eight or ten years, and was succeeded by his brother,

Abdullah Pasha, who remained in the government upwards of five years,
and was afterwards named Pasha of Damascus. He is at present Pasha of
Orfa.

Hassan Pasha, of the family of Adm, remained two years in office.

Hosseyn Pasha was sent with the Djerde, to kill Djezzar, who was on his
way back from Mekka; but Djezzar poisoned him, before he could execute
his design.

Derwish Pasha governed two years. One of the chiefs of his troops,
Hassan Youssef, usurped the greater part of the authority until he was
killed by the Pasha's orders.

Soleiman Pasha, now Pasha of Acre, governed at Tripoli about 1792, while
Djezzar was at Damascus.

Khalyl Pasha, son of Abdullah Pasha, was driven out by the rebellious
inhabitants, during the invasion of Syria by the French. One of the
ring-leaders, Mustara Dolby, took possession of the castle, and reigned
for two years. He was succeeded by Ibrahim Sultan, who was driven away
by Mustafa Aga Berber, a man of talents and of great energy of
character. He refused to pay the Miri into the hands of Youssef Pasha of
Damascus, who had also been invested with the Pashalik of Tripoli, and
having fortified the castle, he boldly awaited with a few trusty
adherents the arrival of Youssef, who approached the town with an army
of five or six thousand men. All the inhabitants fled to the mountain,
except the French consul, a secret enemy of Berber. The army of Youssef
no sooner entered the city, than they began

[p.171]plundering it; and in the course of a few months they completely
sacked it, leaving nothing but bare walls; every piece of iron was
carried off, and even the marble pavements were torn up and sold. The
son of the French consul gained considerable sums by buying up a part of
the plunder. The castle was now besieged, and some French artillerymen
having been brought from Cyprus, a breach was soon made, but though
defended by only one hundred and fifty men, none had the courage to
advance to the assault. After a siege of five months Soleiman Pasba of
Acre interceded for Berber, and Youssef Pasha, glad of a pretext for
retreating, granted the garrison every kind of military honours; the
remaining provisions in the castle were sold to the Pasha for ready
money, and in February, 1809, Berber, accompanied by the officers of
Soleiman Pasha, left the castle and retired to Acre. He was again named
governor of Tripoli, when Soleiman Pasha of Acre and Damascus was, in
1810, invested with the Pashalik of Tripoli.

Seid Soleiman, Pasha of Damascus, received the same charge in 1812.

During our stay at Tripoli, Berber was in the neigbbourhood of Ladakie,
making war against some rebel Anzeyrys; the castle of Tripoli was
intrusted to the command of an Aga of Arnaouts, without being under the
orders of Berber. It is very probable that Berber may yet become a
conspicuous character in Syrian affairs, being a man of great spirit,
firmness, and justice. The town of Tripoli was never in a better state
than when under his command.

March 12th.--Having spent ten days at Tripoli very pleasantly, I took
leave of my companion, who went to Ladakie and Antioch, and set out with
a guide towards Damascus, with the intention of visiting the Kesrouan,
and paying my respects to the chief of the


DEIR KEIFTEIN.

[p.172] mountain, the Emir Beshir, at Deir el Kammar. On the way I
wished to visit some ruins in the Koura, which I had heard of at
Tripoli. I therefore turned out of the great road, which follows the sea
shore as far as Beirout. We set out in the evening, ascended the castle
hill to the S. of the town, and arrived after an hour and a half at Deir
Keiftein [Arabic], where I slept. The road lay through a wood of olive
trees, on the left bank of the Kadisha; over the lowest declivities of
the Libanus. It is a part of the district El Koura, the principal
produce of which is oil. The Zawye, on the other side of the Kadisha,
also produces oil, and at the same time more grain than the Koura. Every
olive tree here is worth from fifteen to twenty piastres. The soil in
which the trees grow is regularly ploughed, but nothing is sown between
the trees, as it is found that any other vegetation diminishes the
quantity of olives. The ground round the stem is covered to the height
of two or three feet with earth, to prevent the sun from hurting the
roots, and to give it the full benefit of the rains. We met with a few
tents of Arabs Zereykat and El Hayb, who were pasturing their sheep upon
the wild herbs by the road side.

At half an hour's distance to the right runs the Djebel Kella [Arabic]
in a north-easterly direction towards the sea; this mountain is under
the immediate government of Tripoli, the Emir Beshir, to whom the whole
Libanus belongs, not having been yet able to gain possession of it. The
following are the principal villages of the Kella: Deyr Sakoub, Diddy,
Fya, Kelhat, Betouratydj, Ras Meskha, Bersa, Nakhle, Beterran, Besh,
Mysyn, Afs Dyk.

Keiftein is a small Greek convent, with a prior and two monks only; a
small village of the same name stands near it. In the burying ground of
the convent is a fine marble sarcophagus, under which an English consul
of Tripoli lies buried. A long English nscription, with a Latin
translation, records the virtues of John

DEIR DEMITRY.

[p.173] Carew, Esq. of Pembrokeshire, who was fifty years consul at
Tripoli, and died the 5th of May, 1747, seventy-seven years of age.

March 13th.--Our road lay through the olive plantations called El Bekeya
[Arabic], between the Upper Libanus and the Djebel Kella. Half an hour
to the right of the road, upon the latter mountain, is the village
Nakhle, below it, Betouratydj, farther up the hill Fya, then, more to
the south, Bedobba, and lastly, Afs Dyk; these villages stand very near
together, although the Kella is very rocky, and little fit for culture;
the peasants, however, turn every inch of ground to advantage. Half an
hour from Keiftein is the village Ferkahel [Arabic], on the side of the
river; we saw here a few old date trees, of which there are also some at
Nakhle. The inhabitants of the Koura are for the greater part of the
Greek church; in Zawye all the Christians are Maronites. At one hour
from Keiftein is the village Beserma [Arabic]. One hour and three
quarters, continuing in the valley between the Libanus and the Kella, is
the village Kfer Akka; we here turned up the Libanus. Half an hour from
the Kfer Akka, on the side of the mountain, is a considerable village
called Kesba, with the convent of Hantoura [Arabic]. At the same
distance S. of Akka, is the village Kfer Zeroun [Arabic]. Two hours and
a quarter from Keiftein, on the declivity of the mountain, is the
convent of St. Demetrius, or Deir Demitry. I here left my mare, and
walked up the mountain to see the ruins of which I had been informed at
Tripoli. In twenty minutes I reached the remains of an ancient town,
standing on a piece of level ground, but with few houses remaining.
These ruins are called by the people of the country Naous or Namous,
which name is supposed to be derived from the word [Arabic], i.e. a
burying-place; but I think its derivation from the Greek [Greek] more
probable. On the S. side stand the ruins of two temples, which are worth
the

NAOUS.

[p.174]traveller's attention. The smaller one is very much like the
temple of Hossn el Forsul, near Zahle, which I had seen on my way to
Baalbec; it is an oblong building of about the same size; and is built
with large square stones. The entrance is to the east. The door remains,
together with the southern wall and a part of the northern. The west
wall and the roof are fallen. In the south wall are two niches. Before
the entrance was a portico of four columns, with a flight of steps
leading up to it. The bases of the columns and fragments of the shafts,
which are three feet in diameter, still remain. At about forty paces
from the temple is a gate, corresponding to the door of the temple; a
broad staircase leads up from it to the temple. The two door-posts of
this outer gate are still standing, each formed of a single stone about
thirteen feet high, rudely adorned with sculpture. At about one hundred
and fifty yards from this building is the other, of much larger
dimensions; it stands in an area of fifty paces in breadth, and sixty in
length, surrounded by a wall, of which the foundation, and some other
parts, still remain. The entrance to this area is through a beautiful
gate, still entire; it is fourteen feet high and ten feet wide, the two
posts, and the soffit are each formed of a single stone; the posts are
elegantly sculptured. At the west end of this area, and elevated four or
five feet above its level, stood the temple, opposite to the great gate;
it presents nothing now but a heap of ruins, among which it is
impossible to trace the original distribution of the building. The
ground is covered with columns, capitals, and friezes; I saw a fragment
of a column, consisting of one piece of stone nine feet in length, and
three feet and a half in diameter. The columns are Corinthian, but not
of the best workmanship. Near the S.W. angle of the temple are the
foundations of a small insulated building.

BESHIZA.

[p.175]In order to level the surface of the area, and to support the
northern wall, a terrace was anciently raised, which is ten feet high in
the north-west corner. The wall of the area is built with large blocks
of well cut stone, some of which are upwards of twelve feet in length.
It appears however to have undergone repairs, as several parts of the
wall are evidently of modern construction; it has perhaps been used as a
strong-hold by the Arabs. The stone of the building is calcareous, but
not so hard as the rock of Baalbec. I saw no kind of inscriptions. The
Naous commands a most beautiful view over the Koura and the sea. Tripoli
bears N.

I descended to the convent of Mar Demitry, in which there is at present
but one monk; and turning from thence in a S.W. direction, reached in
half an hour the wild torrent of Nahr Beshiza [Arabic]; which dries up
in summer time, but in winter sometimes swells rapidly to a considerable
size. When Youssef Pasha besieged Tripoli, intelligence was received at
a village near it, that a party of his troops intended to plunder the
village; the inhabitants in consequence fled with their most valuable
moveables the same evening, and retired up the Wady Beshiza, where they
passed the night. It had unfortunately rained in the mountains above,
and during the night the torrent suddenly swelled, and carried away
eight or ten families, who had encamped in its bed; about fifteen
persons perished. On the right bank, near the stream, lies the village
Beshiza, and at ten minutes from it to the S.E. the ruins of a small
temple bearing the name at present of Kenyset el Awamyd [Arabic], or the
church of the columns. The principal building is ten paces in length on
the inside, and eight paces in breadth. The S. and W. walls are
standing, but the E. has fallen down; the S. wall has been thrown out of
the perpendicular by an earthquake. The entrance is from the west, or
rather from the N.W. for the temple does not face the four cardinal

AMYOUN.

[p.176]points; the northern wall, instead of completing the quadrangle,
consists of two curves about twelve feet in depth, and both vaulted like
niches, as high as the roof, which has fallen in. In the S. wall are
several projecting bases for statues. The door and its soffit, which is
formed of a single stone, are ornamented with beautiful sculptures,
which are not inferior to those of Baalbec. Before the entrance was a
portico of four Ionic columns, of which three are standing; they are
about eighteen feet high, and of a single stone. Opposite to each of the
exterior columns of this portico is a pilaster in the wall of the
temple. There are also two other pilasters in the opposite or eastern
wall. Between the two middle columns of the portico is a gate six feet
high, formed of two posts, with a stone laid across them; this is
probably of modern date, as the exterior of the northern wall also
appears to be; instead of forming two semicircles, as within, it is
polygonal. Between the door and the pilaster, to the northward of it, is
a niche. The entablature of the portico is perfect. In the midst of the
building stands a large old oak tree, whose branches overshadow the
temple, and supply the place of the roof, rendering the ruin a highly
picturesque object. I saw no inscriptions.

Half an hour to the west of Beshiza lies the village of Deir Bashtar
[Arabic]. From the temple we turned N.-eastward, and at the end of half
an hour passed the village Amyoun [Arabic], the chief place in the
district of El Koura, and the residence of Assaf Ibn Asar, the governor
of that province; he is a Greek Christian, and a collector of the Miri,
which he pays into the hands of the Emir Beshir. Many Christian families
are governors of provinces and Sheikhs of villages in the mountains: in
collecting the

[p.177]Miri, and making the repartitions of the extraordinary demands
made by the Emir, they always gain considerable sums; but whenever a
Sheikh has filled his purse, he is sure to fall a victim to the avidity
of the chief governor. These Sheikhs affect all the pomp of the Turks;
surpass them in family pride, and equal them in avarice, low intrigue,
and fanatism. The governor of the province of Zawye is also a Christian,
of the family of Dhaher.

Instead of descending towards the sea shore, which is the usual route to
Batroun, I preferred continuing in the mountain. At an hour and a
quarter from Amyoun, after having twice passed the Beshiza, or, as it is
also called, the Nahr Aszfour, which runs in a very narrow Wady
descending from the district of Laklouk, we reached the village of
Keftoun, where is a convent. Above it lies the village of Betaboura, and
in its neighbourhood Dar Shemsin and Kferhata. West of Amyoun is the
village of Kfer Hasir [Arabic]. The industry with which these
mountaineers cultivate, upon the narrow terraces formed on the steep
declivity of the mountain, their vines and mulberry trees, with a few
acres of corn, is really admirable. At two hours the village of Kelbata
was on our right; a little farther, to the right, Ras Enhash. [Arabic];
below on the sea shore, at the extremity of a point of land, is a large
village called Amfy [Arabic], and near it the convent Deir Natour. It is
with great difficulty that a horse can travel through these mountains;
the roads are abominable, and the inhabitants always keep them so, in
order to render the invasion of their country more difficult. The
direction of Batroun, from the point where the road begins to descend,
is S.W.b.W.

We descended the mountain called Akabe el Meszabeha, near the Wady
Djaous, which lower down takes the name of Nahr Meszabeha. Two hours and
a half from Amyoun, on the descent, is a fine spring, with a vaulted
covering over it, called Ayn el Khowadja [Arabic]. At the end of three
hours we reached

BATROUN.

[p.178] a narrow valley watered by the last mentioned river, and bounded
on the right hand by Djebel Nourye, which advances towards the sea, and
on the left by another mountain; upon the former stands the village
Hammad, and on the point of it, over the sea, the convent of Mar Elias.
At three hours and a quarter, and where the valley is scarcely ten
minutes in breadth, a castle of modern construction stands upon an
insulated rock; it is called Kalaat Meszabeha [Arabic], its walls are
very slight, but the rock upon which it stands is so steep, that no
beast of burthen can ascend it. This castle was once in possession of
the Metaweli, who frequently attacked the passengers in the valley. Near
it is a bridge over the Wady. At three hours and three quarters, where
the valley opens towards the sea, is the village Kobba [Arabic], at the
foot of the Djebel Nourye, with an ancient tower near it. At the end of
four hours and a quarter we reached Batroun [Arabic], where I slept, in
one of the small Khans which are built by the sea side.

Batroun, the ancient Bostrys, contains at present three or four hundred
houses. Its inhabitants are, for the greater part, Maronites; the rest
are Greeks and Turks. The town and its territory belong to the Emir
Beshir; but it is under the immediate government of two of his
relations, Emir Kadan and Emir Melhem. The principal man in the town is
the Christian Sheikh, of the family of Khodher. The produce of Batroun
consists chiefly in tobacco. There is no harbour, merely an inlet
capable of admitting a couple of coasting boats. The whole coast from
Tripoli to Beirout appears to be formed of sand, accumulated by the
prevailing westerly winds, and hardened into rocks. An artificial
shelter seems to have been anciently formed by excavating the rocks, and
forming a part of them into a wall of moderate thickness for the length
of one hundred paces, and to the height of twelve feet. It was probably
behind this wall that the boats of Bostrys anciently found shelter

DJEBAIL.

[p.179]from the westerly gales. I saw but one boat between the rocks of
Batroun.

March 14th.--Our road lay along the rocky coast. In three quarters of an
hour we came to a bridge, called Djissr Medfoun [Arabic], which crosses
a winter torrent. The territory of Batroun extends to this bridge; its
northern limits begin at the village of Hammad, upon the Djebel Nourye,
which terminates the district of Koura; beyond the bridge of Medfoun is
the village Aabeidat [Arabic] to the left. The mountain reaches quite
down to the sea shore. The direction of our road was S.b.W. At two
hours, upon a hill to the left of the road, called Berdj Reihani
[Arabic], stands a ruined arched building; on the road below it are
three columns of sand stone. Up in the mountain are the Greek villages
of Manszef [Arabic], Berbar [Arabic], Gharsous [Arabic], and Korne
[Arabic]. In three hours and a quarter we passed a Wady, without water,
called Halloue [Arabic]. At every three or four miles on this road small
Khans are met with, where refreshments of bread, cheese, and brandy are
sold. Close to the sea shore are many deep wells, with springs of fresh
water at their bottom. Three hours and a half is Djebail [Arabic], the
ancient Byblus. Above it, in the mountain, is the convent Deir el Benat,
with the village Aamsheit [Arabic]. I passed on the outside of Djebail
without stopping. The town is enclosed by a wall, some parts of which
appear to be of the time of the crusades. Upon a stone in the wall I saw
a rose, with a smaller one on each side. There is a small castle here,
in which the Emir Beshir keeps about forty men. A few years ago Djebail
was the residence of the Christian Abd el Ahad; he and his brother
Djordjos Bas were the head men of the Emir Beshir, and in fact were more
potent than their master. Djordjos Bas resided at Deir el Kammar. The
district of Djebail was under the command of Abd el Ahad, who built a

[p.180]very good house here; but the two brothers shared the fate of all
Christians who attempt to rise above their sphere; they were both put to
death in the same hour by the Emir's orders; indeed there is scarcely an
instance in the modern history of Syria, of a Christian or Jew having
long enjoyed the power or riches which he may have acquired: these
persons are always taken off in the moment of their greatest apparent
glory. Abd el Hak, at Antioch; Hanna Kubbe, at Ladakie; Karaly, at
Aleppo; are all examples of this remark. But, as in the most trifling,
so in the most serious concerns, the Levantine enjoys the present
moment, without ever reflecting on future consequences. The house of
Hayne, the Jew Seraf, or banker, at Damascus and Acre, whose family may
be said to be the real governors of Syria, and whose property, at the
most moderate calculation, amounts to three hundred thousand pounds
sterling, are daily exposed to the same fate. The head of the family, a
man of great talents, has lost his nose, his ears, and one of his eyes,
in the service of Djezzar, yet his ambition is still unabated, and he
prefers a most precarious existence, with power, in Syria, to the ease
and security he might enjoy by emigrating to Europe. The Christian
Sheikh Abou Nar commands at Djebail, his brother is governor or Sheikh
of Bshirrai.

Many fragments of fine granite columns are lying about in the
neighbourhood of Djebail. On the S. side of the town is a small Wady
with a spring called Ayn el Yasemein [Arabic]. The shore is covered with
deep sand. A quarter of an hour from Djebail is a bridge over a deep and
narrow Wady; it is called Djissr el Tel [Arabic]; upon a slight
elevation, on its S. side, are the ruins of a church, called Kenyset
Seidet Martein [Arabic]. Up in the mountains are two convents and
several Maronite villages, with the names of which my Greek guide was
unacquainted. In half an hour we came to a pleasant grove of oaks
skirting the

MEINET BERDJA.

[p.181]road; and in three quarters of an hour to the Wady Feidar
[Arabic], with a bridge across it; this river does not dry up in summer
time. A little farther to the right of the road is an ancient watch-
tower upon a rock over the sea; the natives call it Berdj um Heish
[Arabic] from an echo which is heard here; if the name Um Heish be
called aloud, the echo is the last syllable "Eish," which, in the vulgar
dialect, means "what?" ([Arabic] for [Arabic]). Many names of places in
these countries have trivial origins of this kind. At two hours and a
half we crossed by a bridge the large stream of Nahr Ibrahim, the
ancient Adonis. Above us in the mountain is the village El Djissr. The
whole lower ridge of mount Libanus, from Wady Medfoun to beyond Nahr
Ibrahim, composes the district of El Fetouh [Arabic], which is at
present under the control of Emir Kasim, son of the Emir Beshir, who
resides at Ghadsir in Kesrouan; he commands also in Koura. At two hours
and a half, and to the left of the road, which runs at a short distance
from the sea, is the convent of Mar Domeitt [Arabic], with the village
of El Bouar [Arabic]. The soil is here cultivated in every part with the
greatest care. In three hours and a quarter we came to a deep well cut
in the rock, with a spring at the bottom, called Ayn Mahous [Arabic]. At
three hours and a half is a small harbour called Meinet Berdja [Arabic],
with a few houses round it. Boats from Cyprus land here, loaded
principally with wheat and salt. To the right of the road, between
Meinet Berdja and the sea, extends a narrow plain, called Watta Sillan
[Arabic]; its southern part terminates in a promontory, which forms the
northern point of the Bay of Kesrouan. Near the promontory stands an
ancient tower, called Berdj el Kosszeir [Arabic]. In four hours and a
quarter we reached Djissr Maammiltein [Arabic], an ancient bridge,
falling into ruins, over a Wady of the same name. The banks of this Wady
form

ENTRANCE INTO KESROUAN.

[p.182] the boundary of separation between the Pahaliks of Saida and
Tripoli, and divide the district of Fetouh from that of Kesrouan.

The country of Kesrouan, which I now entered, presents a most
interesting aspect; on the one hand are steep and lofty mountains, full
of villages and convents, built on their rocky sides; and on the other a
fine bay, and a plain of about a mile in breadth, extending from the
mountains to the sea. There is hardly any place in Syria less fit for
culture than the Kesrouan, yet it has become the most populous part of
the country. The satisfaction of inhabiting the neighbourhood of places
of sanctity, of hearing church bells, which are found in no other part
of Syria, and of being able to give a loose to religious feelings and to
rival the Mussulmans in fanatisim, are the chief attractions that have
peopled Kesrouan with Catholic Christians, for the present state of this
country offers no political advantages whatever; on the contrary, the
extortions of the Druses have reduced the peasant to the most miserable
state of poverty, more miserable even than that in the eastern plains of
Syria; nothing, therefore, but religious freedom induces the Christians
to submit to these extortions; added perhaps to the pleasure which the
Catholics derive from persecuting their brethren of the Greek church,
for the few Greeks who are settled here are not better treated by the
Maronites, than a Damascene Christian might expect to be by a Turk. The
plain between the mountain and the sea is a sandy soil; it is sown with
wheat and barley, and is irrigated by water drawn from wells by means of
wheels. At five hours and a quarter is Ghafer Djouni [Arabic], a market
place, with a number of shops, built on the sea side, where there is a
landing place for small boats.

The Beirout road continues from hence along the sea coast, but I wished
to visit some convents in Kesrouan, and therefore

ANTOURA.

[p.183]turned up the mountain to the left. At the end of five hours and
three quarters I came to a wood of firs, which trees are very common in
these parts; to the right is the village Haret el Bottne [Arabic]. Six
hours and three quarters Zouk Mykayl [Arabic], the principal village in
Kesrouan, where resides the Sheikh Beshera, of the family of Khazen, who
is at present the governor of the province. The inhabitants of Zouk
consist, for the greater part, of the shopkeepers and artizans who
furnish Kesrouan with articles of dress or of luxury. I observed in
particular many makers of boots and shoes. Seven hours, is Deir Beshara;
a convent of nuns. At the end of seven hours and a quarter, I arrived at
Antoura, a village in a lofty situation, with a convent, which formerly
belonged to the Jesuits, but which is now inhabited by a Lazarist, the
Abbate Gandolfi, who is the Pope's delegate, for the affairs of the
eastern church. I had letters for him, and met with a most friendly
reception: his intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the mountain,
and of the Druses, which his residence of upwards of twelve years, and a
sound understanding, have enabled him to acquire, renders his
conversation very instructive to the inquisitive traveller.

March 15th--I left Antoura in the evening, to visit some convents in a
higher part of the mountains of Kesrouan. Passed Wady Kheredj [Arabic],
and at three quarters of an hour from Antoura, the ruined convent of
Bekerke [Arabic], once the residence of the famous Hindye, whose history
Volney has given. Now that passions have cooled, and that the greater
part of the persons concerned are dead, it is the general opinion that
Hindye's only crime was her ambition to pass for a saint. The abominable
acts of debauchery and cruelty of which she was accused, are probably
imaginary: but it is certain that she rigorously punished the nuns of
her convent who hesitated to believe in her sanctity, or who doubted the
visits of Jesus Christ, of which she boasted. Hindye died about

HARISSA--GHOSTA.

[p.184]ten years since in retirement, in the convent of Seidet el Hakle.
At one hour and a half from Antoura, on the top of the mountain, is the
convent of Harissa, belonging to the Franciscans of Terra Santa, and
inhabited at present by a single Piedmontese monk. On the breaking out
of the war between England and the Porte, Mr. Barker, the Consul at
Aleppo, received from the Emir Beshir an offer of this convent as a
place of refuge in his territory. Mr. Barker resided here for two years
and a half, and his prudent and liberal conduct have done great credit
to the English name in the mountain. The French consuls on the coast
applied several times to the Emir Beshir, by express orders from the
French government, to have Mr. Barker and his family removed; but the
Emir twice tore their letters in pieces and returned them by the
messenger as his only answer. Harissa [Arabic] is a well built, large
convent, capable of receiving upwards of twenty monks. Near it is a
miserable village of the same name. The view from the terrace of the
convent over the bay of Kesrouan, and the country as far as Djebail, on
one side, and down to Beirout on the other, is extremely beautiful. The
convent is situated in the midst of Kesrouan, over the village Sahel
Alma.

March 16.--I slept at Harissa, and left it early in the morning, to
visit Ayn Warka. The roads in these mountains are bad beyond
description, indeed I never before saw any inhabited country so entirely
mountainous as the Kesrouan: there are no levels on the tops of the
mountain; but the traveller no sooner arrives on the summit, than he
immediately begins the descent; each hill is insulated, so that to reach
a place not more than ten minutes distant in a straight line, one is
obliged to travel three or four miles, by descending into the valley and
ascending again the other side. From Harissa I went north half an hour
to the village Ghosta [Arabic], near which are two convents called
Kereim and Baklous. Kereim

AYN WARKA.

[p.185]is a rich Armenian monastery, in which are twenty monks. The silk
of this place is esteemed the best in Kesrouan. A little farther down is
the village El Basha. One hour and a quarter Ayn Warka [Arabic], another
Maronite convent. I wished to see this place, because I had heard that a
school had lately been established here, and that the convent contained
a good library of Syrian books; but I was not so fortunate as to see the
library; the bishop, although he received me well, found a pretext for
not opening the room in which the books are kept, fearing, probably,
that if his treasures should be known, the convent might some day be
deprived of them. I however saw a beautiful dictionary in large folio of
the Syriac language, written in the Syriac character, which, I suppose,
to be the only copy in Syria. Its author was Djorjios el Kerem Seddany,
who composed it in the year 1619. Kerem Seddany is the name of a village
near Bshirrai. This dictionary may be worth in Syria eight hundred or a
thousand piastres; but the convent would certainly not sell it for less
than two thousand, besides a present to the bishop.

The school of Ayn Warka was established fifteen years since by Youssef,
the predecessor of the present bishop. It is destined to educate sixteen
poor Maronite children, for the clerical profession; they remain here
for six or eight years, during which they are fed and clothed at the
expense of the convent, and are educated according to the literary taste
of the country; that is to say, in addition to their religious duties,
they are taught grammar, logic, and philosophy. The principal books of
instruction are the Belough el Arab, [Arabic], and the Behth el Mettalae
[Arabic], both composed by the bishop Djermanous [Arabic]. At present
there is only one schoolmaster, but another is shortly expected,

BEZOMMAR.

[p.186]to teach philosophy. The boys have particular hours assigned to
the different branches of their studies. I found them sitting or lying
about in the court-yard, each reading a book, and the master, in a
common peasant's dress, in the midst of them. Besides the Arabic
language they are taught to speak, write, and read the Syriac. The
principal Syriac authors, whose books are in the library, are Ibn el
Ebre [Arabic], or as the Latins call him, Berebreo, Obeyd Yeshoua
[Arabic], and Ibn el Aassal [Arabic], their works are chiefly on
divinity. The bishop is building a dormitory for the boys, in which each
of them is to have his separate room; he has also begun to take in
pupils from all parts of Syria, whose parents pay for their board and
education. The convent has considerable landed property, and its income
is increased by alms from the Catholic Syrians. The boys, on leaving the
convent, are obliged to take orders.

From Ayn Warka I ascended to the convent of Bezommar [Arabic], one hour
and a quarter distant. It belongs to the Armenian Catholics, and is the
seat of the Armenian patriarch, or spiritual head of all the Armenians
in the East who have embraced the Catholic faith. Bezommar is built upon
the highest summit of the mountain of Kesrouan, which is a lower branch
of the southern Libanus. It is the finest and the richest convent in
Kesrouan, and is at present inhabited by the old patriarch Youssef, four
bishops, twelve monks, and seventeen priests. The patriarch himself
built the convent, at an expense of upwards of fifteen thousand pounds
sterling. Its income is considerable, and is derived partly from its
great landed possessions, and partly from the benefactions of persons at
Constantinople, in Asia Minor, and in Syria. The venerable patriarch
received me in his bed, from which, I fear, he will never rise again.
The Armenian priests

STATE OF KESROUAN.

[p.187]of this convent are social and obliging, with little of the pride
and hypocrisy of the Maronites. Several of them had studied at Rome. The
convent educates an indefinite number of poor boys; at present there are
eighteen, who are destined to take orders; they are clothed and fed
gratis. Boys are sent here from all parts of the Levant. I enquired
after Armenian manuscripts, but was told that the convent possessed only
Armenian books, printed at Venice.

I left Bezommar to return to Antoura. Half an hour below Bezommar is the
convent Essharfe [Arabic], belonging to the true Syrian church. The rock
in this part is a quartzose sand-stone, of a red and gray colour. To the
left, still lower down, is the considerable village Deir Aoun [Arabic],
and above it the Maronite convent Mar Shalleitta [Arabic]. I again
passed Mar Harissa on my descent to Antoura, which is two hours and a
half distant from it.

March 17th.--The district of Kesrouan, which is about three hours and a
half in length, from N. to S. and from two to three hours in breadth
across the mountains, is exclusively inhabited by Christians: neither
Turks nor Druses reside in it. The Sheikh Beshara collects the Miri, and
a son of the Emir Beshir resides at Ghazir, to protect the country, and
take care of his father's private property in the district. The
principal and almost sole produce is silk; mulberry trees are
consequently the chief growth of the soil; wheat and barley are sown,
but not in sufficient quantity for the consumption of the people. The
quantity of silk produced annually amounts to about sixty Kantars, or
three hundred and thirty English quintals. A man's wealth is estimated
by the number of Rotolas of silk which he makes, and the annual taxes
paid to government are calculated and distributed in proportion to them.
The Miri or land-tax is taken upon the mule loads

[p.188]of mulberry leaves, eight or ten trees, in common years, yielding
one load; and as the income of the proprietors depends entirely upon the
growth of these leaves, they suffer less from a bad crop, because their
taxes are proportionally low. The extraordinary extortions of the
government, however, are excessive: the Emir often exacts five or six
Miris in the year, and one levy of money is no sooner paid, than orders
are received for a fresh one of twenty or thirty purses upon the
province. The village Sheikh fixes the contributions to be paid by each
village, taking care to appropriate a part of them to himself. Last year
many peasants were obliged to sell a part of their furniture, to defray
the taxes; it may easily be conceived therefore in what misery they
live: they eat scarcely any thing but the worst bread, and oil, or soups
made of the wild herbs, of which tyranny cannot deprive them.
Notwithstanding the wretchedness in which they are left by the
government, they have still to satisfy the greediness of their priests,
but these contributions they pay with cheerfulness. Many of the convents
indeed are too rich to require their assistance, but those which are
poor, together with all the parish priests and church officers, live
upon the people. Such is the condition of this Christian commonwealth,
which instead of deserving the envy of other Christians, living under
the Turkish yoke, is in a more wretched state than any other part of
Syria; but the predominance of their church consoles them under every
affliction, and were the Druse governor to deprive them of the last
para, they would still remain in the vicinity of their convent.

Contributions are never levied on the convents, though the landed
property belonging to them pays duties like that of the peasant; their
income from abroad is free from taxes. Loans are sometimes required of
the convents; but they are regularly reimbursed in the time of the next
harvest. The priests are the most

NAHR EL KELB.

[p.189]happy part of the population of Kesrouan; they are under no
anxiety for their own support; they are looked upon by the people
assuperior beings, and their repose is interrupted only by the intrigues
of the convents, and by the mutual hostilities of the bishops.

The principal villages in Kesrouan, beginning from the north, are
Ghadsir [Arabic], Djedeide [Arabic], Aar Amoun [Arabic], Shenanayr
[Arabic], Sahel Alma [Arabic], Haret Szakher [Arabic], Ghozta [Arabic],
Deir Aoun [Arabic], Ghadir [Arabic], Zouk Mikayl [Arabic], Djouni
[Arabic], Zouk Meszbah [Arabic], Zouk el Kherab [Arabic], and Kornet el
Khamra [Arabic].

March 18th--I left my amiable host, the Abate Gandolfi, and proceeded on
my road to Deir el Kammar, the residence of the Emir Beshir. One hour
from Antoura is Deir Lowyz [Arabic]. Between it and the village Zouk
Mikayl lies the village Zouk Meszbah, with Deir Mar Elias. South of Deir
Lowyz half an hour is the village Zouk el Kharab; half an hour E. of the
latter, Deir Tanneis [Arabic], and about the same distance S.E. the
village Kornet el Khamra. From Deir Lowyz I again descended into the
plain on the sea shore. The narrow plain which I mentioned as beginning
at Djissr Maammiltein, continues only as far as Djouni, where the
country rises, and continues hilly, across the southern promontoy of the
bay of Kesrouan, on the farther side of which the narrow plain again
begins, and continues as far as the banks of the Nahr el Kelb. I reached
this river in half an hour from Antoura, at the point of its junction
with the sea, about ten minutes above which it is crossed by a fine
stone bridge. From the bridge the road continues along the foot of the
steep rocks, except where they overhang the sea, and there it has been
cut through the rock for about a mile. This was a work, however, of no
great labour, and hardly deserved the

EL MELLAHA.

[p.190]following magnificent inscription, which is engraved upon the
rock, just over the sea, where the road turns southward:

IMP CAES M AVRELIVS ANTONINV S . PIVS . FELIX  . AVGVSTVS PART . MAX .
BRIT . MAX . GERM . MAXIMVS PONTIFEX . MAXIMVS MONTIBVS INMINENTIBVS
LICO FLVMINI CAESIS VIAM DELATAVIT PER . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ANTONINIANAM SVAM

The last line but one has been purposely erazed. Below the frame in
which the above is engraved, is this figure.

Higher up in the road are several other places in the rock, where
inscriptions have been cut, but the following one only is legible:

INVICTIM ANTONIN FELIX AUG MV . . IS NISIM[In the year 1697 Maundrell
read this inscription as follows: Invicte Imp. Antonine P. Felix Aug.
multis annis impera. Ed.]

According to the opinion of M. Guys, the French consul at Tripoli, which
seems well founded, the Emperor mentioned in the above inscriptions is
not Antoninus Pius, but Caracalla; as the epithet Britannus cannot be
applied to the former, but very well to the latter. Opposite to the
bridge is an Arabic inscription, but for the greater part illegible.

The road continues for about half an hour through the rock over the sea,
above which it is no where higher than fifty feet. At the southern
extremity is a square basin hewn in the rock close by the sea, called El
Mellaha, in which the salt water is sometimes collected for the purpose
of obtaining salt by evaporation. On the summit of the mountain, to the
left of the rocky road, lies the Deir Youssef el Berdj [Arabic]; half an


PLAIN OF BEIROUT.

[p.191]hour south of it, in the mountain, is the village Dhobbye
[Arabic], and behind the latter the village Soleima [Arabic], with a
convent of the Terra Santa. The road from El Mellaha continues for an
hour and a half on the sandy beach; about three quarters of an hour from
the basin we passed the rivulet Nahr Antoun Elias, so called from a
village and convent of that name, to the left of the road. Near the
latter lies the village of Abou Romman [Arabic], in the narrow plain
between the mountain and the sea, and a little farther south, El
Zeleykat [Arabic]. The district of Kesrouan [Arabic], extends, to the
south, as far as a small Khan, which stands a little beyond the Mellaha;
farther south commences the Druse country of Shouf [Arabic]. At the
termination of the sandy beach are seen ruins of Saracen buildings, with
a few houses called Aamaret Selhoub [Arabic].

We now left the sea shore to our right, and rode across the riangular
point of land on the western extremity of which the town of Beirout is
situated. This point projects into the sea about four miles beyond the
line of the coast, and there is about the same distance in following
that line across the base of the triangle. The road we took was through
the fine cultivated plain called El Boudjerye [Arabic], in a direction
S. by W. Two hours and three quarters from El Mellaha is the village
Hadded [Arabic]. Before we came to it, we crossed the Nahr Beirout, at a
place where I saw, for the first time, a grove of date trees. Beyond the
river the country is called Ard el Beradjene, from a tower by the sea
side called Berdj el Beradjene [Arabic]; the surrounding country is all
planted with olive trees. In three hours and a quarter we crossed the
Wady Ghadiry [Arabic], on the other side of which lies the village Kefr
Shyna [Arabic]. Upon the hills about three quarters of an hour S.E. of
the place where the Ghadiry falls into the sea, stands the convent Mar
Hanna el Shoeyfat. At the end of three hours and

KEFRNOUTA.

[p.192]a half, the road begins to ascend: the Emir Beshir has had a new
road made the greater part of the way up to Deir el Kammar, to
facilitate the communication between his residence and the provinces of
Kesrouan and Djebail. At the end of four hours is a fine spring, with a
basin shaded by some large oak trees; it is called Ayn Besaba [Arabic].
At four hours and a half, the road still ascending, is the village Ayn
Aanab [Arabic], remarkable for a number of palm trees growing here at a
considerable elevation above the sea. The mountain is full of springs,
some of which form pretty cascades. On the front of a small building
which has been erected over the spring in the village, I observed on
both sides two figures cut upon the wall, with open mouths, and having
round their necks a chain by which they are fastened to the ground.
Whether they are meant for lions or calves I could not satisfy myself,
nor could I learn whether they have any relation to the religious
mysteries of the Druses.

The country from Kefr Shyna is wholly inhabited by Druses. The village
of Aanab is the hereditary seat of the family of Ibn Hamdan, who are the
chiefs of the Druses in the Haouran. At five hours and a half is the
village Ayn Aanoub [Arabic]; a little above it the road descends into
the deep valley in which the Nahr el Kadhi flows. The mountain is here
overgrown with fine firs. Six hours and a half, is a bridge (Djissr el
Khadhi) under which the Nahr flows in a rocky bed. The Franks on the
coast commonly give to the Nahr Kadhi the name of Damour, an appellation
not unknown to the natives. On the other side of the bridge the road
immediately ascends to the village Kefrnouta, on the N. side of the
river, where it turns round the side of the mountain to Deir el Kammar,
distant seven hours and a quarter from El Mellaha. I rode through El
Kammar, without stopping, and proceeded to the village of Beteddein,
where the Emir Beshir is building a new palace.


BETEDDEIN.

[p.193]The town of Deir el Kammar is situated on the declivity of the
mountain, at the head of a narrow valley descending towards the sea. It
is inhabited by about nine hundred Maronite, three hundred Druse, and
fifteen or twenty Turkish families, who cultivate mulberry and vine
plantations, and manufacture all the articles of dress of the
mountaineers. They are particularly skilful in working the rich Abbas or
gowns of silk, interwoven with gold and silver, which are worn by the
great Sheikhs of the Druses, and which are sold as high as eight hundred
piastres a piece. The Emir Beshir has a serai here. The place seems to
be tolerably well built, and has large Bazars. The tombs of the
Christians deserve notice. Every family has a stone building, about
forty feet square, in which they place their dead, the entrance being
always walled up after each deposit: this mode of interment is peculiar
to Deir el Kammar, and arose probably from the difficulty of excavating
graves in the rocky soil on which it is built. The tombs of the richer
Christian families have a small Kubbe on their summit. The name of this
town, signifying the Monastery of the Moon, originates in a convent
which formerly stood here, dedicated to the Virgin, who is generally
represented in Syria with the moon beneath her feet. Half an hour from
Deir el Kammar, on the other side of the valley, lies Beteddein
[Arabic], which in Syriac, means the two teats, and has received its
name from the similarity of two neighbouring hills, upon one of which
the village is built. Almost all the villages in this neighbourhood have
Syriac names.

March 19th.--The Emir Beshir, to whom I had letters of recommendation,
from Mr. Barker at Aleppo, received me very politely, and insisted upon
my living at his house. His new palace is a very costly edifice; but at
the present rate of its progress five more years will be required to
finish it. The building consists of a large quadrangle, one on side of
which are the

[p.194]Emir's apartments and his harem, with a private court-yard; two
other sides contain small apartments for his people, and the fourth is
open towards the valley, and Deir el Kammar, commanding a distant view
of the sea. In the neighbouring mountain is a spring, the waters from
which have been conducted into the quadrangle; but the Emir wishes to
have a more abundant supply of water, and intends to bring a branch of
the Nahr el Kadhi thither; for this purpose the water must be diverted
from the main stream at a distance of three hours, and the expense of
the canal is calculated at three thousand pounds sterling.

The Emir Beshir is at present master of the whole mountain from Belad
Akkar down to near Akka (Acre), including the valley of Bekaa, and part
of the Anti-Libanus and Djebel Essheikh. The Bekaa, together with a
present of one hundred purses, was given to him in 1810, by Soleiman
Pasha of Acre, for his assistance against Youssef Pasha of Damascus. He
pays for the possession of the whole country, five hundred and thirty
purses, of which one hundred and thirty go to Tripoli and four hundred
to Saida or Acre; this is exclusive of the extraordinary demands of the
Pashas, which amount to at least three hundred purses more. These sums
are paid in lieu of the Miri, which the Emir collects himself, without
accounting for it. The power of the Emir, however, is a mere shadow, the
real government being in the hands of the Druse chief, Sheikh
Beshir.[Beshir is a proper name borne by many people in the mountain.
The accent is on the last syllable: the sound would be expressed in
English by Besheer.] I shall here briefly explain the political state of
the mountain.

It is now about one hundred and twenty years since the government of the
mountain has been always entrusted by the Pashas of Acre and Tripoli to
an individual of the family of Shehab [Arabic], to which the Emir Beshir
belongs. This family derives its origin

[p.195]from Mekka, where its name is known, in the history of Mohammed
and the first Califes; they are Mussulmans, and some of them pretend
even to be Sherifs. About the time of the crusades, for I have been
unable to ascertain the exact period, the Shehabs left the Hedjaz, and
settled in a village of the Haouran, to which they gave their family
name;[A branch of the family is said to inhabit some mountains in
Mesopotamia, under the command of Emir Kasem.] it is still known by the
appellation of Shohba; and is remarkable for its antiquities, of which I
have given some account, in my journal of a tour in the Haouran. The
family being noble, or of Emir origin, were considered proper persons to
be governors of the mountain; for it was, and still is thought necessary
that the government should not be in the hands of a Druse. The Druses
being always divided into parties, a governor chosen from among them
would have involved the country in the quarrels of his own party, and he
would have been always endeavouring to exterminate his adversaries;
whereas a Turk, by carefully managing both parties, maintains a balance
between them, though he is never able to overpower them completely; he
can oppose the Christian inhabitants to the Druses, who are in much
smaller numbers than the former, and thus he is enabled to keep the
country in a state of tranquillity and in subjection to the Pashas. This
policy has long been successful, notwithstanding the turbulent spirit of
the mountaineers, the continual party feuds, and the ambitious projects
of many chiefs, as well of the Druses as of the reigning house; the
Pashas were careful also not to permit any one to become too powerful;
the princes of the reigning family were continually changed; and party
spirit was revived in the mountain whenever the interests of the Porte
required it. About eighty years ago the country was divided into the two
great parties of Keisy [Arabic], whose banner was red, and Yemeny
[Arabic], whose banner was white, and the whole Christian population

[p.196]ranged itself on the one side or the other. The Keisy gained at
length the entire ascendancy, after which none but secret adherents of
the Yemeny remained, and the name itself was forgotten. Then arose the
three sects of Djonbelat, Yezbeky, and Neked. These still exist; thirty
years ago the two first were equal, but the Djonbelat have now got the
upper hand, and have succeeded in disuniting the Yezbeky and Neked.

The Djonbelat [Arabic] draw their origin from the Druse mountain of
Djebel Aala, between Ladakie and Aleppo: they are an old and noble
family, and, in the seventeenth century, one of their ancestors was
Pasha of Aleppo; it forms at present the richest and most numerous
family, and the strongest party in the mountain.

The Yezbeky [Arabic], or as they are also called, El Aemad [Arabic], are
few in number, but are reputed men of great courage and enterprize.
Their principal residence is in the district of El Barouk, between Deir
el Kammar and Zahle.

The Neked, whose principal Sheikh is at present named Soleiman, inhabit,
for the greater part, Deir el Kammar; seven of their principal chiefs
were put to death thirteen years ago in the serai of the Emir Beshir,
and a few only of their children escaped the massacre; these have now
attained to years of manhood, and remain at Deir el Kammar, watched by
the Djonbelaty and the Aemad, who are united against them.

The Djonbelat now carry every thing with a high hand; their chief, El
Sheikh Beshir is the richest and the shrewdest man in the mountain;
besides his personal property, which is very considerable, no affair of
consequence is concluded without his interest being courted, and dearly
paid for. His annual income amounts to about two thousand purses, or
fifty thousand pounds sterling. The whole province of Shouf is under his
command, and he is in partnership

[p.197] with almost all the Druses who possess landed property there.
The greater part of the district of Djesn [Arabic] is his own property,
and he permits no one to obtain possesions in that quarter, while he
increases his own estates yearly, and thus continually augments his
power. The Emir Beshir can do nothing important without the consent of
the Sheikh Beshir, with whom he is obliged to share all the
contributions which he extorts from the mountaineers. It is from this
cause that while some parts of the mountain are very heavily taxed, in
others little is paid. The Druses form the richest portion of the
population, but they supply little to the public contributions, being
protected by the Sheikh Beshir. It will be asked, perhaps, why the
Sheikh does not set aside the Emir Beshir and take the ostensible power
into his own hands? Many persons believe that he entertains some such
design, while others, better informed perhaps, assert that the Sheikh
will never make the attempt, because he knows that the mountaineers
would never submit to a Druse chief. The Druses are certainly in a
better condition at present than they would be under the absolute sway
of the Sheikh, who would soon begin to oppress instead of protecting
them, as he now does; and the Christians, who are a warlike people,
detest the name of Druse too much ever to yield quietly to a chief of
that community. It is, probably, in the view of attaching the Christians
more closely to him, and to oppose them in some measure to the Druses,
that the Emir Beshir, with his whole family, has secretly embraced the
christian religion. The Shehab, as I have already mentioned, were
formerly members of the true Mussulman faith, and they never have had
among them any followers of the doctrines of the Druses. They still
affect publicly to observe the Mohammedan rites, they profess to fast
during the Ramadhan, and the Pashas still treat them as Turks; but it is
no longer matter of doubt, that the greater part of the Shehab, with

[p.198] the Emir Beshir at their head, have really embraced that branch
only of the family which governs at Rasheya and Hasbeya continue in the
religion of their ancestors.

Although the Christians of the mountain have thus become more attached
to their prince, their condition, on the whole, is not bettered, as the
Emir scarcely dares do justice to a Christian against a Druse; still,
however, the Christians rejoice in having a prince of their own faith,
and whose counsellors and household are with few exceptions of the same
religion. There are not more than forty or fifty persons about him who
are not Christians. One of the prince's daughters lately married a Druse
of an Emir family, who was not permitted to celebrate the nuptials till
he had been instructed in the doctrines of Christianity, had been
baptized, and had received the sacrament. How far the Shehab may be
sincere in their professions, I am unable to decide; it is probable that
if their interests should require it, they would again embrace the
religion of their ancestors.

In order to strengthen his authority the Emir Beshir has formed a close
alliance with Soleiman Pasha of Acre, thus abandoning the policy of his
predecessors, who were generally the determined enemies of the Turkish
governors; this alliance is very expensive to the Prince, though it
serves in some degree to counterbalance the influence of the Sheikh
Beshir. The Emir and the Sheikh are apparently on the best terms; the
latter visits the Emir almost every week, attended by a small retinue of
horsemen, and is always received with the greatest apparent cordiality.
I saw him at Beteddein during my stay there. His usual residence is at
the village of Mokhtar [Arabic], three hours distant from Beteddein,
where he has built a good house, and keeps an establishment of about two
hundred men. His confidential attendants, and even the porters of his
harem, are Christians; but his bosom friend

[p.199] is Sheikh el Nedjem [Arabic], a fanatical Druse, and one of the
most respected of their Akals. The Sheikh Beshir has the reputation of
being generous, and of faithfully defending those who have put
themselves under his protection. The Emir Beshir, on the contrary, is
said to be avaricious; but this may be a necessary consequence of the
smallness of his income. He is an amiable man, and if any Levantine can
be called the friend of an European nation, he certainly is the friend
of the English. He dwells on no topic with so much satisfaction as upon
that of his alliance with Sir Sidney Smith, during that officer's
command upon this coast. His income amounts, at most, to four hundred
purses, or about L10.000. sterling, after deducting from the revenue of
the mountain the sums paid to the Pashas, to the Sheikh Beshir, and to
the numerous branches of his family. His favourite expenditure seems to
be in building. He keeps about fifty horses, of which a dozen are of
prime quality; his only amusement is sporting with the hawk and the
pointer. He lives on very bad terms with his family, who complain of his
neglecting them; for the greater part of them are poor, and will become
still poorer, till they are reduced to the state of Fellahs, because it
is the custom with the sons, as soon as they attain the age of fifteen
or sixteen, to demand the share of the family property, which is thus
divided among them, the father retaining but one share for himself.
Several princes of the family are thus reduced to an income of about one
hundred and fifty pounds a year. It has constantly been the secret
endeavour of the Emir Beshir to make himself directly dependent upon the
Porte, and to throw off his allegiance to the Pasha; but he has never
been able to succeed. The conduct of Djezzar Pasha was the cause of this
policy. Djezzar, for reasons which have already been explained, was
continually changing the governors of the mountain, and each new
governor was obliged to promise him large sums for his investiture. Of
these sums few

[p.200]were paid at the time of Djezzar's death, and bills to the amount
of sixteen thousand purses were found in his treasury, secured upon the
revenue of the mountain. At the intercession of Soleiman Pasha,who
succeeded Djezzar at Akka, and of Gharib Effendi, the Porte's
commissioner (now Pasha of Aleppo), this sum was reduced to four
thousand purses, of which the Emir Beshir is now obliged to pay off a
part annually.

By opposing the Druse parties to each other, and taking advantage of the
Christian population, a man of genius and energy of the Shehab family
might perhaps succeed in making himself the independent master of the
mountain. Such an event would render this the most important government
in Syria, and no military force the Turks could send would be able to
overthrow it. But at present the Shehab appear to have no man of
enterprise among them.

The Shehab marry only among themselves, or with two Druse families, the
Merad [Arabic], and Kaszbeya [Arabic]. These and the Reslan [Arabic],
are the only Emir families, or descendants of the Prophet, among the
Druses. These Emirs inhabit the province called El Meten. Emir Manzour,
the chief of the Merads, is a man of influence, with a private annual
income of about one hundred and twenty purses.

I shall now subjoin such few notes on the Druses as I was able to
collect during my short stay in the mountain; I believe them to be
authentic, because I was very careful in selecting my authourities.

With respect to the true religion of the Druses, none but a learned
Druse can satisfy the enquirer's curiosity. What I have already said of
the Anzeyrys is equally applicable to the Druses; their religious
opinions will remain for ever a secret, unless revealed by a Druse.
Their customs, however, may be described; and, as far as they can tend
to elucidate the mystery, the veil may be

[p.201] drawn aside by the researches of the traveller. It seems to be a
maxim with them to adopt the religious practices of the country in which
they reside, and to profess the creed of the strongest. Hence they all
profess Islamism in Syria; and even those who have been baptised on
account of their alliance with the Shehab family, still practise the
exterior forms of the Mohammedan faith. There is no truth in the
assertion that the Druses go one day to the mosque, and the next to the
church. They all profess Islamism, and whenever they mix with
Mohammedans they perform the rites prescribed by their religion. In
private, however, they break the fast of Ramadhan, curse Mohammed,
indulge in wine, and eat food forbidden by the Koran. They bear an
inveterate hatred to all religions except their own, but more
particularly to that of the Franks, chiefly in consequence of a
tradition current among them that the Europeans will one day overthrow
their commonwealth: this hatred has been increased since the invasion of
the French, and the most unpardonable insult which one Druse can offer
to another, is to say to him "May God put a hat on you!" Allah yelebesak
borneita [Arabic].

Nothing is more sacred with a Druse than his public reputation: he will
overlook an insult if known only to him who has offered it; and will put
up with blows where his interest is concerned, provided nobody is a
witness; but the slightest abuse given in public he revenges with the
greatest fury. This is the most remarkable feature of the national
character: in public a Druse may appear honourable; but he is easily
tempted to a contrary behaviour when he has reason to think that his
conduct will remain undiscovered. The ties of blood and friendship have
no power amongst them; the son no sooner attains the years of maturity
than he begins to plot against his father. Examples are not wanting of
their assailing the chastity of their mothers, and towards their sisters
such

[p.202] conduct is so frequent, that a father never allows a full grown
son to remain alone with any of the females of his family. Their own
religion allows them to take their sisters in marriage; but they are
restrained from indulging in this connexion, on account of its
repugnance to the Mohammedan laws. A Druse seldom has more than one
wife, but he divorces her under the slightest pretext; and it is a
custom among them, that if a wife asks her husband's permission to go
out, and he says to her "Go;" without adding "and come back," she is
thereby divorced; nor can her husband recover her, even though it should
be their mutual wish, till she is married again according to the Turkish
forms, and divorced from her second husband. It is known that the
Druses, like all Levantines, are very jealous of their wives; adultery,
however, is rarely punished with death; if a wife is detected in it, she
is divorced; but the husband is afraid to kill her seducer, because his
death would be revenged, for the Druses are inexorable with respect to
the law of retaliation of blood; they know too that if the affair were
to become public, the governor would ruin both parties by his
extortions. Unnatural propensities are very common amongst them.

The Akal are those who are supposed to know the doctrines of the Druse
religion; they superintend divine worship in the chapels or, as they are
called, Khaloue [Arabic], and they instruct the children in a kind of
catechism. They are obliged to abstain from swearing, and all abusive
language, and dare not wear any article of gold or silk in their dress.
Many of them make it a rule never to eat of any food, nor to receive any
money, which they suspect to have been improperly acquired. For this
reason, whenever they have to receive considerable sums of money, they
take care that it shall be first exchanged for other coin. The Sheikh El
Nedjem, who generally accompanies the Sheikh Beshir, in his visits to
the Emir, never tastes

[p.203] food in the palace of the latter, nor even smokes a pipe there,
always asserting that whatever the Emir possesses has been unlawfully
obtained. There are different degrees of Akal, and women are also
admitted into the order, a privilege which many avail themselves of,
from parsimony, as they are thus exempted from wearing the expensive
head-dress and rich silks fashionable among them.

A father cannot entirely disinherit his son, in that case his will would
be set aside; but he may leave him a single mulberry tree for his
portion. There is a Druse Kadhi at Deir el Kammar, who judges according
to the Turkish laws, and the customs of the Druses; his office is
hereditary in a Druse family; but he is held in little repute, as all
causes of importance are carried before the Emir or the Sheikh Beshir.

The Druses do not circumcise their children; circumcision is practised
only in the mountain by those members of the Shehab family who continue
to be Mohammedans.

The best feature in the Druse character is that peculiar law of
hospitality, which forbids them ever to betray a guest. I made
particular enquiries on this subject, and I am satisfied that no
consideration of interest or dread of power will induce a Druse to give
up a person who has once placed himself under his protection. Persons
from all parts of Syria are in the constant practice of taking refuge in
the mountain, where they are in perfect security from the moment they
enter upon the Emir's territory; should the prince ever be tempted by
large offers to consent to give up a refugee, the whole country would
rise, to prevent such a stain upon their national reputation. The mighty
Djezzar, who had invested his own creatures with the government of the
mountain, never could force them to give up a single individual of all
those who fled thither from his tyranny. Whenever he became

[p.204] very urgent in his demands, the Emir informed the fugitive of
his danger, and advised him to conceal himself for a time in some more
distant part of his territory; an answer was then returned to Djezzar
that the object of his resentment had fled. The asylum which is thus
afforded by the mountain is one of the greatest advantages that the
inhabitants of Syria enjoy over those in the other parts of the Turkish
dominions.

The Druses are extremely fond of raw meat; whenever a sheep is killed,
the raw liver, heart, &c. are considered dainties; the Christians follow
their example, but with the addition of a glass of brandy with every
slice of meat. In many parts of Syria I have seen the common people eat
raw meat in their favourite dish the Kobbes; the women, especially,
indulge in this luxury.

Mr. Barker told me that during his two years residence at Harissa and in
the mountain, he never heard any kind of music. The Christians are too
devout to occupy themselves with such worldly pleasures, and the Druses
have no sort of musical instruments.

The Druses have a few historical books which mention their nation; Ibn
Shebat, for instance, as I was told, gives in his history of the
Califes, that of the Druses also, and of the family of Shehab. Emir
Haidar, a relation of the Emir Beshir, has lately begun to compile a
history of the Shehabs, which already forms a thick quarto volume.

I believe that the greatest amount of the military forces of the Druses
is between ten and fifteen thousand firelocks; the Christians of the
mountain may, perhaps, be double that number; but I conceive that the
most potent Pasha or Emir would never be able to collect more than
twenty thousand men from the mountain.

The districts inhabited by Druses in the Pashalik of Saida are the
following. El Tefahh, of which one half belongs to the

[p.205] Pasha. El Shomar [Arabic], belonging for the greater part to the
Pasha. El Djessein, one half of which belongs to the Porte. Kesrouan. El
Metten. El Gharb el Fokany. El Gharb el Tahtany; in which the principal
family is that of Beit Telhouk [Arabic]. El Djord [Arabic], the
principal family there is Beit Abd el Melek. El Shehhar [Arabic]; the
principal family Meby el Dein [Arabic]. El Menaszef, under Sheikh
Soleiman of the family of Abou Neked [Arabic]. El Shouf [Arabic], the
residence of the Sheikh Beshir. El Aarkoub [Arabic], or Ard Barouk
[Arabic], belonging to the family of Aemad; and El Kharroub [Arabic],
belonging to the Djonbelat.

In 1811, the Druses of Djebel Ala, between Ladakie and Antioch, were
driven from their habitations by Topal Aly, the governor of Djissr
Shogher, whose troops committed the most horrible cruelties. Upwards of
fifteen hundred families fled to their countrymen in the Libanus, where
they were received with great hospitality; upwards of two hundred purses
were collected for their relief, and the Djonbelat assigned to them
convenient dwellings in different parts of the mountain. Some of them
retired into the Haouran.

March 21st.--It was with difficulty that I got away from Beteddein. The
Emir seemed to take great pleasure in conversing with me, as we spoke in
Arabic, which made him much freer than he would have been, had he had to
converse through the medium of an interpreter. He wished me to stay a
few days longer, and to go out a hunting with him; but I was anxious to
reach Damascus, and feared that the rain and snow would make the road
over the mountain impassable; in this I was not mistaken, having
afterwards found that if I had tarried a single day longer I should have
been obliged to return along the great road by the way of Beirout. The
Emir sent one of his horsemen to accompany me,

WADY DHOBBYE.

[p.206] and we set out about mid-day. Half an hour from Beteddein is the
village Ain el Maszer [Arabic], with a spring and many large walnut
trees. To the left, on the right bank of the Nahr el Kadhi, higher in
the mountain, are the villages Medjelmoush [Arabic] and Reshmeyia
[Arabic]. At one hour is the village Kefrnebra [Arabic], belonging to
the Yezdeky, under the command of Abou Salma, one of their principal
Sheikhs. The road lies along the mountain, gradually ascending. At one
hour and a quarter are the two villages Upper and Lower Beteloun
[Arabic]  One hour and three quarters, the village Barouk [Arabic], and
near it the village Ferideis [Arabic]; these are the chief residence of
the Yezdeky, and the principal villages in the district of Barouk. They
are situated on the wild banks of the torrent Barouk, whose source is
about one hour and a half distant. The Sheikh Beshir has conducted a
branch of it to his new palace at Mokhtar; the torrent falls into the
sea near Saida. From Barouk the road ascends the steep side of the
higher region of the mountain called Djebel Barouk; we were an hour and
a half in ascending; the summit was covered with snow, and a thick fog
rested upon it: and had it not been for the footsteps of a man who had
passed a few hours before us we should not have been able to find our
way. We several times sunk up to our waists in the snow, and on reaching
the top we lost the footsteps, when discovering a small rivulet running
beneath the snow, I took it as our guide, and although the Druse was in
despair, and insisted on returning, I pushed on, and after many falls
reached the plain of the Bekaa, at the end of two hours from the summit;
I suppose the straight road to be not more than an hour and quarter. The
rivulet by which we descended is called Wady Dhobbye [Arabic]. We had no
sooner entered the plain than it began to snow again, and it continued
to rain and snow for several days. Small caravans

DJOB DJENNEIN.

[p.207] from Deir el Kammar to Damascus pass the mountain even in
winter; but to prevent the sharp hoofs of the mules from sinking deep
into the snow, the muleteers are accustomed in the difficult places to
spread carpets before them as they pass.

We reached the plain near a small village, inhabited only during the
seed time. From thence the village of Djob Djennein bore S. by E. and
the village of Andjar, in the upper part of the Bekaa, which I visited
in the year 1810, from Zahle, E.N.E. From the foot of the mountain we
were one hour in reaching the bridge over the Liettani, which has been
lately repaired by the Emir Beshir, who has also built a Khan near it,
for the accommodation of travellers. At twenty minutes from the bridge
lies the village Djob Djennein [Arabic], one of the principal villages
of the Bekaa; it is situated on the declivity of the Anti-Libanus, where
that mountain begins to form part of the Djebel Essheikh. The Anti-
Libanus here advances a little into the valley, which from thence takes
a more western course.

The Emir Beshir has seven or eight villages about Djob Djennein, which
together with the latter are his own property; but the whole Bekaa,
since Soleiman succeeded to the Pashalik of Damascus in 1810, is also
under his command. The villages to the north of Djob Djennein will be
found enumerated in another place;[See page 31.] those to the south of
it, and farther down in the valley, are Balloula [Arabic], El Medjdel
[Arabic], Hammara [Arabic], Sultan Yakoub, [Arabic] El Beiry [Arabic], El
Refeidh [Arabic], Kherbet Kanafat [Arabic], Ain Arab [Arabic], and Leila
[Arabic]. Having one of the Emir Beshir's men with me, I was treated
like a great man in the house of the Sheikh of Djob Djennein; this I may
be allowed to mention, as it is the only instance of my receiving such
honours during my travels in Syria.

KHAN DOUMAS.

[p.208] March 22nd.--Caravans reckon two days journey between Djob
Djennein and Damascus; but as I was tolerably well mounted, and my guide
was on a good mare of the Emir Beshir's, I resolved on reaching it in
one day; we therefore pursued our route at a brisk walk and sometimes at
a trot. We crossed the plain obliquely, having the projection of the
Anti-Libanus, which ends at Djob Djennein, on our right. At thirty-five
minutes from Djob Djennein, to the right, is the village Kamel el Louz
[Arabic], where are many ancient caves in the rocky mountain which rises
behind it. In three quarters of an hour we reached the foot of the Anti-
Libanus. On the summit of the mountain on our left, I observed a
singular rock called Shekeik el Donia [Arabic], or Hadjar el Konttara
[Arabic]; my guide told me that the time would certainly arrive when
some Frank nation would invade this country, and that on reaching this
rock they would be completely routed. After a short ascent the road lies
through a narrow plain, and then up another Wady, in the midst of which
is the village of Ayty [Arabic], two hours distant from Djob Djennein;
it belongs to Sheikh Hassan, the brother of Sheikh Beshir, a very rich
Druse, who is as avaricious as the latter is generous; he has however
built a Khan here for the accommodation of travellers. There is a fine
spring in the village; the inhabitants manufacture coarse earthen ware
[Arabic], with which they supply Damascus.

At the end of two hours and three quarters we reached the summit of the
Anti-Libanus, where the heavy rains had already melted the greater part
of the snow; here are some stunted oaks, and numerous springs. In three
hours and a quarter we descended into a fine plain watered by the Wady
Halloue [Arabic], which we followed into a narrow valley, and on issuing
from it passed a ruined Khan, with a spring, called Khan Doumas
[Arabic], which is five hours and a quarter from Djob Djennein. We left
the

PLAIN OF DAMASCUS.

[p.209] village Doumas, which is half an hour from the Khan on our
right, and at the end of six hours reached a high uneven plain, situated
between the Anti Libanus and the chain of hills which commence near
Katana; the plain is called Szakhret el Sham [Arabic]. Seven hours and a
half, the ruined Khan Meylesoun [Arabic]. Eight hours and a half brought
us to the termination of the Szakhret, from which we descended into the
Ghouta, or plain of Damascus. At nine hours, the village Mezze [Arabic],
among the gardens of Damascus; and at the end of nine hours and three
quarters we entered the city, which is generally reckoned fourteen hours
journey from Djob Djennein.

Note.

Between Kesrouan and Zahle, I am informed that in the mountain, about
six hours from the latter, are the ruins of an ancient city called
Fakkra or Mezza. Large blocks of stone, some remains of temples, and
several Greek inscriptions are seen there.

Between Akoura and Baalbec is a road cut in the rock, with several long
Greek inscriptions, and near the source of the rivulet of Afka, near
Akoura, are the ruins of an ancient building, which I unfortunately did
not see during my passage through that village in 1810, although I
enquired for them.

[p. 211]

JOURNAL

OF A

TOUR FROM DAMASCUS INTO THE HAOURAN,

AND THE MOUNTAINS TO THE E. AND S.E. OF THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS.

IN THE MONTHS OF APRIL AND MAY, 1812.

In returning to Damascus, it was my intention to obtain some further
knowledge of the Haouran, and to extend my journey over the mountains to
the south of Damascus, where I wished to explore the ruins of Djerash
(Gerasa) and of Amman (Philadelphia) in the ancient Decapolis, which M.
Seetzen had discovered in his journey from Damascus to Jerusalem. An
unexpected change in the government of Damascus obliged me to protract
my stay in that city for nearly a month. The news had just been received
of the dismissal of Soleiman Pasha, and it was necessary for me, before
I set off, to ascertain whether the country would yield quietly to the
command of the new Pasha; for, if rebel parties started up, and
submission became doubtful, the traveller would run great hazards, would
be unable to derive any advantage from the protection of the government,
and would be obliged to force his way by the means of endless presents
to the provincial chiefs.

As soon as I was satisfied of the tranquil state of the Pashalik, I set
out for the Haouran. I took with me a Damascene, who had been seventeen
times to Mekka, who was well acquainted with the

DEIR ALI.

[p.212]Bedouins, inured to fatigue, and not indisposed to favour my
pursuits; I had indeed reason to be contented with my choice of this
man, though he was of little further use to me than to take care of my
horse, and to assist in intimidating the Arabs, by some additional fire-
arms.

We left Damascus on the morning of the 21st of April, 1812; and as my
first steps were directed towards those parts of the Ledja which I had
not visited during my first tour, we took the road of El Kessoue, Deir
Ali, and El Merdjan, to the description of which in my former journal I
may here add the following particulars: The N.E. part of Djebel Kessoue
is called Djebel Aadelye [Arabic]. From Kessoue our road bore S.S.E. In
one hour and a quarter from that place we passed the small village
called Haush el Madjedye [Arabic]; Haush being an appellation applied to
small villages enclosed by a wall, or rather to those whose houses join,
so as to present by their junction a defence against the Arab robbers.
The entrance to the Haush is generally through a strong wooden gate,
which is carefully secured every evening.

At an hour and three quarters from Kessoue is Deir Ali, to the north of
which, upon the summit of Djebel Kessoue, is situated the Mezar el
Khaledye [Arabic]; Deir Ali is a village inhabited by Druses, who keep
the Arabs in great awe, by the reputation for courage which they have
acquired upon many occasions. It seems rather extraordinary that the
Druses, the known enemies of the Mohammedan faith, should be allowed to
inhabit the country so near to the gate of the holy city, as Damascus is
called; for not only Deir Ali, but three or four villages, as Artous,
Esshera, Fye, and others, at only three hours distant from Damascus, are
for the greater part peopled by them. Numbers of them are even settled
in the town; the quarters called Bab Mesalla and El Hakle, in the
Meidhan, or suburbs of the city, contain

MERDJAN.

[p.213]more than one hundred Druse families, who are there called
Teyamene [Arabic]. In another quarter, called El Khereb, live three or
four hundred Metaweli families, or Shiytes, of the sect of Aly; of this
sect is the present Mutsellim, Aly Aga. The religious creeds of all
these people are publicly known; but the fanatism of the Damascenes,
however violent, is easily made subservient to their fears or interests;
every religious and moral duty being forgotten when the prospect of gain
or the apprehension of danger presents itself.

At three hours and a quarter from Kessoue is the village El Merdjan.
When I passed this place in 1810, I found a single Christian family in
it; I now found eight or ten families, most of them Druses, who had
emigrated hither from Shaara, a well peopled village in 1810, but now
deserted. They had brought the fertile soil round El Merdjan into
cultivation, and had this year sown eight Ghararas of wheat and barley,
or about one hundred and twenty cwt. English.[The Gharara of Damascus is
eighty Muds, at three and a half Rotola per Mud, or twenty pounds.] The
taxes paid by the village amounted to a thousand piastres, or fifty
pounds sterling, besides the tribute extorted by the Bedouins. The
vicinity of the village is watered by several springs. I was obliged to
remain at Merdjan the next day, because my mare fell ill, and was unable
to proceed. As I did not like to return to Damascus, I bought a mare of
the Sheikh of the village, a Christian of Mount Libanus, who knew me,
and who took a bill upon Damascus in payment. This mare I afterwards
bartered for a Bedouin horse.

April 23d.--I left Merdjan to examine the eastern limits of the Ledja.
We passed the Aamoud Eszoubh [Arabic], or Column of the Morning, an
insulated pillar standing in the plain; it is formed

BERAK.

[p.214]of the black stone of the Ledja, about twenty-five or thirty feet
high, of the Ionic order, and with a high pedestal. I had been told that
there were some inscriptions upon it, but I did not find any. The column
is half an hour distant from Merdjan, to the eastward of south. Round
the column are fragments of three or four others, which appear to have
formed a small temple. The remains of a subterraneous aqueduct,
extending from the village towards the spot where the column stands, are
yet visible. In one hour from thence we passed a ruined village called
Beidhan [Arabic], with a saltpetre manufactory. Two hours from Merdjan
is Berak [Arabic], bearing from it S.E.b.E. Our road lay over a low
plain between the Djebel Kessoue and the Ledja, in which the Bedouins of
the latter were pasturing their cattle. Berak is a ruined town, situated
on the N.E. corner of the Ledja; there is no large building of any
consequence here; but there are many private habitations. Here are two
saltpetre manufactories, in which the saltpetre is procured by boiling
the earth dug up among the ruins of the town; saline earth is also dug
up in the neighbouring plain; in finding the productive spots, they are
guided by the appearance of the ground in the morning before sunrise,
and wherever it then appears most wet with dew the soil beneath is found
impregnated with salt. The two manufactures produce about three Kantars,
or fifteen or sixteen quintals per month of saltpetre, which is sold at
about fifteen shillings per quintal. The boilers of these manufactories
are heated by brush-wood brought from the desert, as there is little
wood in the Ledja, about Berak. The whole of the Loehf, or limits of the
Ledja, is productive of saltpetre, which is sold at Damascus and Acre; I
saw it sold near the lake of Tiberias for double the price which it
costs in the Loehf. In the interior of a house among the ruins of Berak,
I saw the following inscription:

[p.215]

[Greek] ["The tenth of Peritius of the eighth year." Peritius was one of
the Macedonian months, the use of which was introduced into Syria by the
Seleucidae. It answered to the latter part of December and beginning of
January. Ed.].

On the outside wall of a house, in another part of the town, was the
following:

[Greek] [[GREEK] Apellaeus was another Macedonian month, and answered to
half October and half November. This inscription is within a tablet of
the usual form. Ed].

Berak, like most of the ancient towns of the Ledja, has a large stone
reservoir of water. Between these ruins and Missema lies the ruined city
Om Essoud [Arabic], in the Loehf.

Djebel Kessoue runs out in a S.E. direction as far as the N.E. limits of
the Ledja, and consists of the same kind of rock as that district. The
other branch of it, or Djebel Khiara, extends towards Shaara. One hour
S.W. from Berak, in the Ledja, are the ruins of a tower called Kaszr
Seleitein [Arabic], with a ruined village near it. An Arab enumerated to
me the following names of ruined cities and villages in the Ledja, which
may be added to those mentioned in my former journal: Emseyke [Arabic],
El Wyr

EL KHELKHELE.

[p.216] [Arabic], Djedl [Arabic], Essemeyer [Arabic], Szour [Arabic],
Aasem Ezzeitoun [Arabic], Hamer [Arabic], Djerrein [Arabic], Dedjmere
[Arabic], El Aareis [Arabic] El Kastall [Arabic], Bord [Arabic], Kabbara
[Arabic], El Tof [Arabic], Etteibe [Arabic], Behadel [Arabic], El Djadj
[Arabic], Szomeith [Arabic], El Kharthe [Arabic], Harran [Arabic],
Djeddye [Arabic], Serakhed [Arabic], Deir [Arabic], Dami [Arabic],
Aahere [Arabic], Om el Aalek [Arabic], Moben el Beit [Arabic], Deir
Lesmar [Arabic].

I engaged a man at Berak to conduct me along the Loehf, or limits of the
Ledja; this eastern part is called El Lowa, from the Wady Lowa [Arabic],
a winter torrent which descends from Djebel Haouran, and flows along the
borders of the Ledja, filling in its course the reservoirs of all the
ancient towns situated there; it empties itself into the Bahret el
Merdj, or marshy ground at seven or eight hours east of Damascus, where
the rivers of Damascus also are lost. Our road was S.S.E. In one hour
from Berak we passed the Lowa, near a ruined bridge, where the Wady
takes a more eastern direction. Some water remained in pools in
different places in the Wady, the rains having been very copious during
the winter season. In an hour and a half we passed Essowara [Arabic], a
ruined town on our right; we travelled along the fertile plain that
skirts the rocky surface of the Ledja, which at two hours took a more
southern direction. On our right was El Hazzem [Arabic], a ruined town;
and a little farther, Meharetein [Arabic], also in ruins. All these
towns are on the borders of the Ledja. Their inhabitants formerly
cultivated the fields watered by the Lowa, of which the stone enclosures
are still visible in some places. At three hours is El Khelkhele
[Arabic], a ruined town, where we slept, in the house of the owner of a
saltpetre manufactory.

The Wady Lowa in some places approaches close to the Ledja, and in
others advances for a mile into the plain; its banks were covered with
the most luxuriant herbage, of which little use is

SOWARAT EL DSAKEIR.

[p.217]made; the Arabs of the Ledja being afraid to pass beyond its
limits, from the almost continual state of warfare in which they live
with the powerful tribe of Aeneze, and the government of Damascus; while
the Aeneze, on the other hand, are shy of approaching too near the
Ledja, from fear of the nightly robberies, and of the fire-arms of the
Arabs who inhabit it. The labourers in the saltpetre manufactories are
Druses, whose reputation for individual courage, and national spirit,
keeps the Arabs at a respectful distance.

April 24th.--Khelkhele, like all the ancient towns in the Haouran, is
built entirely with stone. I did not observe any public edifice of
importance in the towns of the Lowa; there are some towers of moderate
height, which seem to have been the steeples of churches; and a few
houses are distinguished from the rest by higher arches in the
apartments, and a few rude carvings over their doors. From Khelkhele,
S.E. about two hours distant, is a high Tel in the plain; it is called
Khaledie [Arabic], and has the ruins of a town on its top; nearly
joining to it are the most northern projections of Djebel Haouran, which
are distinguished on this side by a chain of low hillocks. To the E. of
Khelkhele, about four hours, stands the Tel el Aszfar [Arabic], farther
E. the ruined village of Djoh Ezzerobe [Arabic], and still further E.
about nine or ten hours, from Khelkhele, the ruined village El Kasem
[Arabic], near which is a small rivulet. In the direction of Tel el
Khaledie, and to the S.E. of it, are the ruined villages of Bezeine
[Arabic], and Bezeinat [Arabic].

The direction of our route from Khelkhele was sometimes S.E. sometimes
S. following the windings of the Ledja and the Lowa. At half an hour is
the ruined village Dsakeir [Arabic], in the Ledja, which here turns to
the E. in the direction of Tel Shiehhan. On its S.E. corner stands the
ruined town Sowarat el Dsakeir [Arabic],

OM EZZEITOUN.

[p.218] where we found a party of Arabs Szolout encamped, with whom we
breakfasted. In one hour and a quarter we passed Redheimy [Arabic],
where the ground was covered with remains of ancient enclosures. One
hour and a half, El Hadher [Arabic]; one hour and three quarters, El
Laheda [Arabic]; two hours, Omten [Arabic]; two hours and a half,
Meraszrasz [Arabic]; three hours, Om Haretein [Arabic]; three hours and
a half, Essammera [Arabic]. All the above villages and towns are in
ruins, and prove the once-flourishing state of the Ledja. In four hours
we reached Om Ezzeitoun [Arabic], a village inhabited by Druses. The
advantages of a Wady like the Lowa are incalculable in these countries,
where we always find that cultivation follows the direction of the
winter torrents, as it follows the Nile in Egypt. There are not many
Wadys in this country which inundate the land; but the inhabitants make
the best use of the water to irrigate their fields after the great rains
have ceased. Springs are scarce, and it is from the Wadys that the
reservoirs are filled which supply both men and cattle with water, till
the return of the rainy season. It is from the numerous Wadys which rise
in the Djebel Haouran that the population of the Haouran derives its
means of existence, and the success of its agriculture.

Om Ezzeitoun is inhabited by thirty or forty families. It appears, by
the extent of its ruins, to have been formerly a town of some note. I
here copied several inscriptions.

Upon a broken stone in the wall of a public building over the great
reservoir of the town, was the following:

[Greek]

[p.219] [Greek].

The only ancient building of any consequence is a small temple, of which
an arch of the interior, and the gate, only remain; on each side of the
latter are niches, between which and the gate are these inscriptions:

[Greek].

The two last syllables are on the frame within which the inscription is
engraved.

[Greek].

Upon a stone lying on the ground near the temple is the following:

[p.220] [Greek].[[Greek]. Ed.]

Upon a long narrow stone in the wall of a court-yard near the temple:

[Greek].

I had intended to sleep at Om Ezzeitoun, but I found the Druses very
ill-disposed towards me. It was generally reported that I had discovered
a treasure in 1810 at Shohba, near this place, and it was supposed that
I had now returned to carry off what I had then left behind. I had to
combat against this story at almost every place, but I was nowhere so
rudely received as at this village, where I escaped ill treatment only
by assuming a very imposing air, and threatening with many oaths, that
if I lost a single hair of my beard, the Pasha would levy an avania of
many purses on the village. I had with me an old passport from Soleiman
Pasha, who, though no longer governor of Damascus, had been charged pro
tempore with the government till the arrival of the new Pasha, who was
expected from Constantinople. Soleiman had retired to his former
government at Acre, but his Mutsellim at Damascus very kindly granted me
strong letters of recommendation to all the authorities of the country,
which were of great use to me in the course of my journey.

I left Om Ezzeitoun late in the evening, to proceed toward the mountain
of Haouran. Our road lay on the N. side of Tel Shiehhan,

BEREIT.

[p.221]close to which runs the Ledja; and the Wady Lowa descends the
mountain on the west side of it. We proceeded in the direction of
Soueida, and in an hour and a quarter from the village stopped, after
sunset, at an encampment of the Djebel Haouran Arabs. My companion, and
a guide whom I had engaged at Om Ezzeitoun, persuaded me to appear
before the Arabs as a soldier belonging to the government, in order to
get a good supper, of which we were in great want, that of the preceding
night, at the saltpetre works, having consisted of only a handful of dry
biscuit. We were served with a dish of rice boiled in sour milk, and
were much amused by the sports and songs of the young girls of the
tribe, which they continued in the moonlight till near midnight. One of
the young men had just returned to the encampment, who had been taken
prisoner by the Aeneze during a nightly predatory expedition. He showed
us the marks of his fetters, and enlarged upon the mode of treating the
Rabiat, or prisoner, among the Aeneze. A friend had paid thirty camels
for his liberation. In spring the Arabs of the Djebel Haouran and the
Ledja take advantage of the approach of the Aeneze, to plunder daily
among their enemies; they are better acquainted with the ground than the
latter, a part of whose horses and cattle are every spring carried off
by these daring mountaineers.

April 25th.--At half an hour from the encampment is the hill called Tel
Dobbe [Arabic], consisting of a heap of ruins, with a spring. To the
N.E. of it, a quarter of an hour, is the ruined village of Bereit, which
was inhabited in 1810, but is now abandoned. The Haouran peasants wander
from one village to another; in all of them they find commodious
habitations in the ancient houses; a camel transports their family and
baggage; and as they are not tied to any particular spot by private
landed property, or plantations, and find every where large tracts to
cultivate,

AATYL.

[p.222]they feel no repugnance at quitting the place of their birth. In
one hour we passed Seleim, which in 1810 was inhabited by a few poor
Druses, but is now abandoned. Here are the ruins of a temple, built with
much smaller stones than any I had observed in the construction of
buildings of a similar size in the Haouran. On the four outer corners
were Corinthian pilasters. At one hour and a quarter, road S. we entered
the wood of oak-trees, which is continued along the western declivity of
the Djebel. One hour and a half, in the wood, we passed the Wady Dyab
[Arabic], coming from the mountain. One hour and three quarters, passed
Wady Kefr el Laha [Arabic]. At the end of two hours we reached Aatyl
[Arabic], a small Druse village in the midst of the wood. Here are the
remains of two handsome temples; that which is on the N. side, is in
complete ruins; it consisted of a square building, with a high arch
across its roof; two niches were on each side of the gate, and in front
of it a portico of columns, the number of which it is impossible to
determine, the ground being covered by a heap of fragments of columns,
architraves, and large square stones. This temple is called El Kaszr.
From a small stone in its precincts I copied the following letters:

[Greek].

On the outside wall of the temple is the following inscription in
remarkably fine characters.

[Greek].

On the S.E. side of Aatyl stands the other temple, which is of small
dimensions but of elegant construction. It has a portico of two

[p.223]columns and two pilasters, each of which has a projecting base
for a statue, elevated from the ground about one-third of the height of
the column, like the pillars of the great colonnade at Palmyra. The
columns are Corinthian, but not of the best time of that order. The
interior of the temple consists of an apartment with several arches
without any ornaments; but the gate is covered with sculpture. The two
pilasters forming the portico have inscriptions on their bases. On the
one is this:

[Greek].

Near the other pilaster is an inscription upon two broken stones, lying
near each other; these stones appear to have been formerly joined, and
to have formed part of the base of the pilaster, and the inscription
seems to have been a copy of the former. Upon the one I read:

[Greek].

and upon the other:

[Greek]

[p.224] [Greek].

Near the temple I saw a bas-relief about ten inches square, representing
a female bust, with hair in ringlets, falling upon the shoulders; it was
lying on the ground; but it was not of such workmanship as to tempt me
to take it with me. Upon the wall of one of the largest houses in the
village was a long inscription; but too high for me to read.

N.E. of Aatyl, about one hour, up in the mountain, is a ruined tower
called Berdj Mabroum [Arabic].

The tobacco of Aatyl is preferred to that of any other part of the
Haouran. I here saw a public woman, a Kahirene, who seemed to be kept at
the expense of the whole village; I was surprised at this, for manners
in the Haouran are generally almost as pure as among the Bedouins:
public women are not suffered, and adultery is punished by the death of
the woman, while the man is ruined by the heavy penalties exacted by the
government in expiation of his guilt. Last year a married Turkish woman
at Mohadje, a village in the Loehf, was caught in the embraces of a
young Christian; her three brothers hastened to the spot, dragged her to
the market place, and there in the presence of the whole community, cut
her in pieces with their swords, loading her at the same time with the
most horrible imprecations. The lover was fined ten purses.

From Aatyl I pursued my way one hour and a quarter S.S.E. to Soueida, at
a short distance from which are the remains of an ancient road. As I had
examined the antiquities of this village in 1810, and did not wish to be
seen here a second time, I passed on without stopping, in the direction
of Aaere, which is two hours and a half distant in a south-westerly
direction. In the plain, and at a quarter of an hour to the west of
Soueida, is the ruined convent

AAERE.

[p.225] Deir Senan [Arabic]. There is only a small Kurdine village in
the road between Soueida and Aaere.

April 26th.--I remained this day at Aaere, in the house of the Druse
chief the Sheikh Shybely Ibn Hamdan, where I alighted. The Sheikh
appeared to be greatly pleased at my reappearance. Since my former
visit, I had cultivated his friendship by letters and presents, which I
had sent to him from Aleppo, and by which he was so much gratified, that
he would have loaded me with presents in return, had I not thought
proper to decline every thing of that kind, contenting myself with some
very strong letters of recommendation from him to the authorities in
those places which I intended to visit. Shybely is the kindest and most
generous Turk I have known in Syria: and his reputation for these
qualities has become so general, that peasants from all parts of the
Haouran settle in his village. The whole of the Christian community of
Soueida, with the Greek priest at their head, had lately arrived, so
that Aaere has now become one of the most populous villages in this
district. The high estimation in which the Sheikh is held arises from
his great hospitality, and the justice and mildness with which he treats
the peasants, upwards of forty of whom he feeds daily, besides
strangers, who are continually passing here in their way to the Bedouin
encampments; the coffee pot is always boiling in the Menzoul or
stranger's room. He may now, in fact, be called the Druse chief of the
Haouran, though that title belongs in strictness to his father-in-law,
Hossein Ibn Hamdan, the Sheikh of Soueida. In the mosque of Aaere, a low
vaulted building, I copied the following inscription from a stone in the
wall:

[Greek].

BOSZRA.

[p.226]April 27th.--I now thought that I might visit Boszra, which I had
found it prudent to avoid in my former tour. Shybely gave me one of his
men as a guide, and we followed the road which I have already described,
as far as Shmerrin. At a quarter of an hour beyond Shmerrin, we passed
the Wady Rakeik [Arabic].

Boszra [Arabic], is situated in the open plain, two hours distant from
Aaere and is at present the last inhabited place in the south-east
extremity of the Haouran; it was formerly the capital of Arabia
Provincia, and is now, including its ruins, the largest town in the
Haouran. It is of an oval shape, its greatest length being from E. to
W.; its circumference is three quarters of an hour. It was anciently
enclosed by a thick wall, which gave it the reputation of a place of
great strength. Many parts of this wall, especially on the W. side,
still remain; it was constructed with stones of a moderate size,
strongly cemented together. The principal buildings in Boszra were on
the E. side, and in a direction from thence towards the middle of the
town. The S. and S.E. quarters are covered with ruins of private
dwellings, the walls of many of which are still standing, but most of
the roofs have fallen in. The style of building seems to have been
similar to that observed in all the other ancient towns of the Haouran.
On the W. side are springs of fresh water, of which I counted five
beyond the precincts of the town, and six within the walls; their waters
unite with a rivulet whose source is on the N.W. side, within the town,
and which loses itself in the southern plain at several hours distance:
it is called by the Arabs El Djeheir [Arabic].

The Nahr el Ghazel, which in most maps, and even by D'Anville, is laid
down in the immediate vicinity of Boszra, is unknown to the natives; but
I was afterwards informed that there is a Wady Ghazel in the direction
of Amman (Philadelphia), in the Djebel Belka, which descends from the
mountain,

[p.227]and flows into the eastern plains, to the S. of Kalaat el Belka.

The principal ruins of Boszra are the following: a square building,
which within is circular, and has many arches and niches in the wall: on
either side of the door within are two larger niches, and opposite to
the door on the east side of the circle is the sanctuary, formed of low
arches supported by Corinthian pillars, without pedestals. Several
beautiful sculptured friezes are inserted in the wall, but I was unable
to discover from whence they had been taken; in front of the door stand
four columns. The diameter of the rotunda is four paces; its roof has
fallen in, but the walls are entire, without any ornaments. It appears
to have been a Greek church. Over the gate is a long inscription, but it
was illegible to my sight.

At a short distance to the west of this edifice is an oblong square
building, called by the natives Deir Boheiry [Arabic], or the Monastery
of the priest Boheiry. On the top of the walls is a row of windows; on
the north side is a high vaulted niche; the roof has fallen in; I
observed no ornaments about it. On the side of its low gate is the
following inscription in bad characters:

AEL AVREL THEONI LEG AVGG PR PR COS DESIG OPTIONES [xx] LEG III
KVRENAICAE VENERIANAE GALLIANAE RARISI--MO ET PER OMNIA IUSTISSIMO SOCIO

Between these two buildings stands the gate of an ancient house,
communicating with the ruins of an edifice, the only remains of which is
a large semi-circular vault, with neat decorations and four small niches
in its interior; before it lie a heap of stones and broken columns. Over
the gate of the house is the following inscription:

[p.228] [Greek].

The natives have given to this house the name of Dar Boheiry, or the
house of Boheiry. This Boheiry is a personage well known to the
biographers of Mohammed, and many strange stories are related of him, by
the Mohammedans, in honour of their Prophet, or by the eastern
Christians, in derision of the Impostor. He is said to have been a rich
Greek priest, settled at Boszra, and to have predicted the prophetic
vocation of Mohammed, whom he saw when a boy passing with a caravan from
Mekka to Damascus. Abou el Feradj, one of the earliest Arabic
historians, relates this anecdote. According to the traditions of the
Christians, he was a confidential counsellor of Mohammed, in the
compilation of the Koran.

To the west of the abovementioned buildings stands the great mosque of
Boszra, which is certainly coeval with the first aera of Mohammedanism,
and is commonly ascribed to Omar el Khattab [Arabic]. Part of its roof
has fallen in. On two sides of the square building runs a double row of
columns, transported hither from the ruins of some Christian temple in
the town. Those which are formed of the common Haouran stone are badly
wrought in the coarse heavy style of the lower empire; but among them
are sixteen fine variegated marble columns, distinguished both by the
beauty of the material, and of the execution: fourteen are Corinthian,
and two Ionic; they are each about sixteen or eighteen feet in height,
of a single block, and well polished. Upon two of them standing opposite
to each other are the two following inscriptions:

1. [Greek]

[p.229] [Greek].

2. [Greek].

The walls of the mosque are covered with a coat of fine plaster, upon
which were many Cufic inscriptions in bas-relief, running all round the
wall, which was embellished also by numerous elegant Arabesque
ornaments; a few traces of these, as well as of the inscriptions, still
remain. The interior court-yard of the mosque is covered with the ruins
of the roof, and with fragments of columns, among which I observed a
broken shaft of an octagonal pillar, two feet in diameter; there are
also several stones with Cufic inscriptions upon them.

Passing from the great mosque, southwards, we came to the principal ruin
of Boszra, the remains of a temple, situated on the side of a long
street, which runs across the whole town, and terminates at the western
gate. Of this temple nothing remains but the back wall, with two
pilasters, and a column, joined by its entablature to the main wall;
they are all of the Corinthian order, and both capitals and architraves
are richly adorned with sculpture. In the wall of the temple are three
rows of niches, one over the other. Behind this is another wall, half
ruined. In front of the temple, but

[p.230]standing in an oblique direction towards it, are four large
Corinthian Columns, equalling in beauty of execution the finest of those
at Baalbec or Palmyra (those in the temple of the Sun at the latter
place excepted): they are quite perfect, are six spans in diameter, and
somewhat more than forty-five feet in height; they are composed of many
pieces of different sizes, the smallest being towards the top, and they
do not appear to have been united by an entablature. They are not at
equal distances, the space between the two middle ones being greater
than the two other intervals. About thirty paces distant stands another
column, of smaller dimensions, and of more elaborate but less elegant
execution. I endeavoured in vain to trace the plan of the edifice to
which these columns belonged, for they correspond in no way with the
neighbouring temple; it appeared that the main building had been
destroyed, and its site built upon; nothing whatever of it remaining but
these columns, the immediate vicinity of which is covered with the ruins
of private houses. These four large columns, and those of Kanouat, are
the finest remains of antiquity in the Haouran. Upon the base of the
pilaster in the back wall of the temple is the following inscription, in
handsome characters:

[Greek].

Upon a broken stone in a modern wall near this temple I read:

[Greek].

[p.231] Upon another broken stone not far from the former is this
inscription, now almost effaced, and which I made out with difficulty:

[Greek].

The ruin of the temple just described is in the upper part of the town,
which slopes gently towards the west; not far from it, in descending the
principal street, is a triumphal arch, almost entire, but presenting
nothing very striking in its appearance, from the circumstance of the
approach to it being choked with private houses, as is the case with all
the public buildings in Boszra, except the church first mentioned. The
arch consists of a high central arch, with two lower side arches;
between these are Corinthian pilasters, with projecting bases for
statues. On the inside of the arch were several large niches, now choked
up by heaps of broken stones. On one of the pilasters is this
inscription:

VLIO IVLIA . . . . . NAR PRAEF LEG. p ARTHICAE . . . . . . PPIANAE DVCI
DEVOTI S . MO . TREBICIVS CAVOINUS PRAEF ALAE NOV. EFIRME CATAPRACTO
PHILIPPIAN . PRAEPOSITO OPTIMO

Upon a stone in the wall over the gate of a private house on the west
side of the temple, was the following, upside down:

[p.232] [Greek].

Over the gate of another house, in the same neighbourhood:

[Greek].

Among the ruins in the N.W. part of the town is an insulated mosque, and
another stands near the above mentioned Deir Boheiry; in its court-yard
is a stone covered with a long and beautiful Cufic inscription, which is
well worth transporting to Europe; the characters being very small it
would have required a whole day to copy it; it begins as follows:

[Arabic].

Not far from the great mosque is another triumphal arch, of smaller
dimensions than the former, but remarkable for the thickness of its
walls: it forms the entrance to an arched passage, through which one of
the principal streets passed: two Doric columns are standing before it.

In the eastern quarter of the town is a large Birket or reservoir,
almost perfect, one hundred and ninety paces in length, one hundred and
fifty three in breadth, and enclosed by a wall seven feet in thickness,
built of large square stones; its depth maybe about twenty feet. A
staircase leads down to the water, as the basin is never completely
filled. This reservoir is a work of the Saracens; made for watering the
pilgrim caravan to Mekka, which as late as the seventeenth century
passed by Boszra. A branch of the Wady Zeid [See p. 105.]empties itself
in winter into the Birket. On the south side it is flanked by a row of
houses, by some public edifices, and a

[p.233]mosque; and on the west side by an ancient cemetery; the other
sides are open.

Upon a broken stone, in the middle of the town, is the following
inscription, in characters similar to those which I met with at Hebron,
Kanouat, and Aaere.

[xxxxx].

I now quitted the precincts of the town, and just beyond the walls, on
the S. side came to a large castle of Saracen origin, probably of the
time of the Crusades: it is one of the best built castles in Syria, and
is surrounded by a deep ditch. Its walls are very thick, and in the
interior are alleys, dark vaults, subterraneous passages, &c. of the
most solid construction. What distinguishes it from other Syrian
castles, is that on the top of it there is a gallery of short pillars,
on three sides, and on the fourth side are several niches in the wall,
without any decorations; many of the pillars are still standing. The
castle was garrisoned, at the time of my visit, by six Moggrebyns only.
There is a well in the interior. I copied the following from a small
altar-shaped stone lying on the ground within the castle:

[Greek]. [Legionis tertiae Cyrenaicae. Ed.]

The castle of Boszra is a most important post to protect the harvests of
the Haouran against the hungry Bedouins; but it is much neglected by the
Pashas of Damascus, and this year the

[p.234]crops of the inhabitants of Boszra have been almost entirely
consumed by the horses of the Aeneze, who were encamped on the E. side
of the Djebel Haouran.

From a broken stone in the modern wall of a court-yard near the castle I
copied the following letters:

[Greek].

In proceeding from the castle westwards, I arrived, in a quarter of an
hour, at the western gate of the town, where the long street terminates.
The gate is a fine arch, with niches on each side, in perfect
preservation: the people of Boszra call it Bab el Haoua [Arabic], or the
Wind gate, probably because the prevailing or summer breezes blow from
that point. A broad paved causeway, of which some traces yet remain, led
into the town; vestiges of the ancient pavement are also seen in many of
the streets, with a paved footway on each side; but the streets are all
narrow, just permitting a loaded camel to pass.

Near the Bab el Haoua are the springs above mentioned, called Ayoun el
Merdj; with some remains of walls near them. The late Youssef Pasha of
Damascus built here a small watch-tower, or barrack, for thirty men, to
keep the hostile Arabs at a distance from the water. The town walls are
almost perfect in this part, and the whole ground is covered with ruins,
although there is no appearance of any large public building. Upon an
altar near one of the springs was the following inscription:

ANTONIAE FORTVNATAE ANTONIVS. V . . CES CONIVGI PIISIMAE

[p.235] Near it is another altar, with a defaced inscription.

In going northward from the springs, I passed the rivulet Djeheir, whose
source is at a short distance, within the precincts of the town. It
issues from a stone basin, and was conducted anciently in a canal. Over
it seems to have stood a small temple, to judge by the remains of
several columns that are lying about. The source is full of small fish.
Youssef Pasha built a barrack here also; but it was destroyed by the
Wahabi who made an incursion into the Haouran in 1810, headed by their
chief Ibn Saoud, who encamped for two days near this spot, without being
able to take the castle, though garrisoned by only seven Moggrebyns. The
banks of the Djeheir are a favourite encampment of the Bedouins, and
especially of the Aeneze.

Beyond the town walls, and at some distance to the north of the Djeheir,
stands the famous mosque El Mebrak; and near it is the cemetery of the
town.  Ibn Affan, who first collected the scattered leaves of the Koran
into a book, relates that when Othman, in coming from the Hedjaz,
approached the neighbourhood of Boszra with his army, he orderd his
people to build a mosque on the spot where the camel which bore the
Koran should lie down; such was the origin of the mosque El Mebrak.
[Mebrak [Arabic] means the spot where a camel couches down, or a
halting-place.] It is of no great size; its interior was embellished,
like that of the great mosque, with Cufic inscriptions, of which a few
specimens yet remain over the Mehrab, or niche towards which the face of
the Imam is turned in praying. The dome or Kubbe which covered its
summit has been recently destroyed by the Wahabi.

The above description comprises all the principal antiquities of Boszra.
A great number of pillars lie dispersed in all directions in the town;
but I observed no remains of granite. Its immediate

[p.236]invirons are also covered with ruins, principally on the W. and
N.W. sides, where the suburbs may have formerly stood.

Of the vineyards, for which Boszra was celebrated, even in the days of
Moses, and which are commemorated by the Greek medals of [Greek], not a
vestige remains. There is scarcely a tree in the neighbourhood of the
town, and the twelve or fifteen families who now inhabit it cultivate
nothing but wheat, barley, horse-beans, and a little Dhourra. A number
of fine rose trees grow wild among the ruins of the town, and were just
beginning to open their buds.

April 28th.--I was greatly annoyed during my stay at Boszra, by the
curiosity of the Aeneze, who were continually passing through the place.
It had been my wish to visit the ruined city of Om El Djemal [Arabic],
which is eight hours distant from Boszra, to the S.; but the demands of
the Arabs for conducting me thither were so exorbitant, exceeding even
the sum which I had thought necessary to bring with me from Damascus to
defray the expenses of my whole journey, that I was obliged to return to
Aaere towards mid-day, after having offered thirty piastres for a guide,
which no one would accept. None but Aeneze could have served me, and
with them there was no reasoning; they believed that I was going in
search of treasure, and that I should willingly give any sum to reach
the spot where it was hid.

April 29th.--I took leave of my worthy friend Shybely, who would not let
us depart alone, but engaged a Bedouin to accompany us towards the
western parts of the Haouran; this man was a Bedouin of Sayd, or Upper
Egypt, of the tribe of Khelafye, who inhabit to the west of Girge; he
had entered the service of the Mamelouks, and had been with one of them
to Mekka, from whence he returned to Damascus, where he entered into the
Pasha's cavalry; here he had the misfortune to kill one of his comrades,
which

EL HEREYEK.

[p.237]obliging him to fly, he repaired to the Aeneze, with whom he
found security and protection.

Half an hour from Aaere we passed Wady Ghothe [Arabic], with the village
of Ghothe to our left; route N.W.b.N. One hour and a half, the village
Om Waled [Arabic], one hour and three quarters, the village El Esleha
[Arabic], inhabited principally by Christians. Two hours and a quarter,
passed Wady Soueida. Two hours and a half the village Thale [Arabic], to
the west of which, one hour, is Tel Hossein, with the village Kheraba.
At three hours and a quarter is the village El Daara [Arabic], with Wady
Daara; here we dined at an encampment of Arabs of Djebel Haouran, who
are in the habit of descending into the plain to pasture their cattle,
as soon as the country is evacuated by the Aeneze. At four hours and
three quarters is Melieha el Aattash [Arabic], in a direction N.W. from
Daara; from thence our route lay W. by N. Not more than one-third of the
plain was cultivated, though the peasants had sown more grain this year,
than they had done for many years back. S. of Melieha half an hour lies
the village Rakham [Arabic]. Five hours and a half the village El Herak
[Arabic]. Five hours and three quarters, the village El Hereyek
[Arabic]. In all these villages are several reservoirs of water, for the
supply of the inhabitants during summer, and which are filled either by
the winter torrents descending from the Djebel Haouran, or by rain
water, which is conducted into them from every side by narrow channels:
they are all of ancient date, and built entirely with the black Haouran
stone; but I saw in none of the villages any edifice of magnitude. Near
Hereyek we fell in with the encampment of the Damascus beggars, who make
an excursion every spring to the Haouran, to collect alms from the
peasants and Arabs; these contributions are principally in butter and
wool,

NAEME.

[p.238]which they sell on their return to Damascus. They had about a
dozen tents, and as many asses, and I saw a good mare tied before the
tent of the Sheikh, who is a man of consequence among the thieves and
vagabonds of Damascus. His name is El Shuhadein [Arabic]: he invited us
to drink a cup of coffee, and take some refreshment; but my companions,
who knew him, advised me to keep clear of him. At six hours and a
quarter, we passed at a short distance to our left, the village Olma
[Arabic], our route being N.W. About one hour S.W. of Olma lies the
village El Kerek. Eight hours and twenty-five minutes, the village Naeme
[Arabic]. Most of these villages stand upon, or near, low hillocks or
Tels, the only objects which break the monotony of the plain.

It was at Naeme that I saw, for the first time, a swarm of locusts; they
so completely covered the surface of the ground, that my horse killed
numbers of them at every step, whilst I had the greatest difficulty in
keeping from my face those which rose up and flew about. This species is
called in Syria, Djerad Nedjdyat [Arabic] or Djerad Teyar [Arabic], i.e.
the flying locusts, being thus distinguished from the other species,
called Djerad Dsahhaf [Arabic], or devouring locusts. The former have a
yellow body; a gray breast, and wings of a dirty white, with gray spots.
The latter, I was told, have a whitish gray body, and white wings. The
Nedjdyat are much less dreaded than the others, because they feed only
upon the leaves of trees and vegetables, sparing the wheat and barley.
The Dsahhaf, on the contrary, devour whatever vegetation they meet with,
and are the terror of the husbandmen; the Nedjdyat attack only the
produce of the gardener, or the wild herbs of the desert. I was told,
however, that the offspring of the Nedjdyat produced in Syria partake of
the voracity of the Dsahhaf, and like them prey upon the crops of grain.


SHEMSKEIN.

[p.239]Those which I saw in the Haouran, and afterwards in the gardens
of Damascus, fly in separate bodies, and do not spread over a whole
district. The young of this species are quite black until a certain age.

The Bedouins eat locusts, which are collected in great quantities in the
beginning of April, when the sexes cohabit, and they are easily caught;
after having been roasted a little upon the iron plate [Arabic], on
which bread is baked, they are dried in the sun, and then put into large
sacks, with the mixture of a little salt. They are never served up as a
dish, but every one takes a handful of them when hungry. The peasants of
Syria do not eat locusts, nor have I myself ever had an opportunity of
tasting them: there are a few poor Fellahs in the Haouran, however, who
sometimes pressed by hunger, make a meal of them; but they break off the
head and take out the entrails before they dry them in the sun. The
Bedouins swallow them entire. The natural enemy of the locust is the
bird Semermar [Arabic]; which is of the size of a swallow, and devours
vast numbers of them; it is even said that the locusts take flight at
the cry of the bird. But if the whole feathered tribe of the districts
visited by locusts were to unite their efforts, it would avail little,
so immense are the numbers of these dreadful insects.

At eight hours and three quarters from Aaere, and at a short distance to
the right, is the village Obta [Arabic]; our route N.W. by N. Nine hours
and a quarter, we saw, at one hour to the left, the village El Kherbe
[Arabic]. Nine hours and three quarters, Shemskein [Arabic], one of the
principal villages in the Haouran. As we had rode at a very brisk pace,
the above distance of nine hours and three quarters may be computed at
nearly twelve hours of the common travelling. Shemskein, a village
containing upwards of one hundred families, is situated on the Hadj
road, on the side of Wady

[p.240]Hareir [Arabic], over which a solid bridge has been built on one
side of the village: this Wady comes from the north-east at four or six
hours distance, and flows south-west. It is one of the largest torrents
of Haouran, and was at this moment full of water, while most of the
other Wadys were nearly dried up. The Sheikh of Shemskein has the title
of Sheikh el Haouran, and holds the first rank among the village Sheikhs
of the country. In the time of Hadj he collects from the Haouran and
Djolan about fifteen hundred camels, and accompanies them to Mekka. His
income is considerable, as the peasants of the different villages of the
Haouran, when engaged in disputes with neighbouring villagers, or with
their Sheikhs, generally apply in the first instance to his tribunal.

We alighted at the Sheikh's house, in the court-yard of which we found
almost the whole population of the village assembled: there had been a
nuptial feast in the village, and the Nowars or gypsies, were playing
music. These Nowar [Arabic], who are called Korbatt [Arabic] at Aleppo,
are dispersed over the whole of Syria; they are divided into two
principal bodies, viz. the Damascenes, whose district extends as far as
Hassia, on the Aleppo road; and the Aleppines, who occupy the country to
the north of that line. They never dare go beyond the limits which they
have allotted to each other by mutual consent; both bodies have an Aga,
who pays to the Grand Signior about five hundred piastres per annum, and
collects the tribute from his subjects, which in the Damascus territory
amounts annually to twenty piastres a head for every full grown male.

April 30th.--As I wished to visit from Shemskein the Mezareib, and to
ascend from thence the mountains of Adjeloun, I set out in the company
of an old acquaintance of Aleppo, a Janissary, who had entered into the
service of the Pasha of Damascus, and was now stationed at Mezareib.
Following the Hadj road, in a S.S.E. direction, in an hour and a quarter
from Shemskein we crossed the

EL MEZAREIB.

[p.241]Wady Aar [Arabic], coming from the east. Half an hour to the left
of the road is Daal [Arabic], a considerable village; and between Daal
and Mezareib, but more to the eastward, lies the village of Draa
[Arabic], the ancient Edrei. Two hours, Tefas [Arabic], with a well
built mosque.

At the end of three hours, we arrived at El Mezareib [Arabic], El
Mezareib is the first castle on the Hadj road from Damascus, and was
built by the great Sultan Selym, three hundred and eight years ago. It
is the usual residence of the Aga of the Haouran; but that office is now
vacant, the late Aga having been deposed, and no one has yet been
appointed to succeed him. The garrison of the castle consisted of a
dozen Moggrebyns, whose chief, a young black, was extremely civil to me.
The castle is of a square form, each side being, as well as I can
recollect, about one hundred and twenty paces in length. The entrance is
through an iron gate, which is regularly shut after sunset. The interior
presents nothing but an empty yard enclosed by the castle wall, within
which are ranges of warehouses, where the provisions for the Hadj are
deposited; their flat roofs form a platform behind the parapet of the
castle wall, where sixteen or eighteen mud huts have been built on the
top of the warehouses, as habitations for the peasants who cultivate the
neighbouring grounds. On the east side two miserable guns are planted.
Within the castle is a small mosque. There are no houses, beyond its
precincts. Close by it, on the N. and E. sides, are a great number of
springs, whose waters collect, at a short distance, into a large pond or
lake, of nearly half an hour in circumference, in the midst of which is
an island. On an elevated spot at the extremity of a promontory,
advancing into the lake, stands a chapel, around which are many ruins of
ancient buildings. The water of the lake is as clear as crystal, neither
weeds

[p.242]nor grass growing in it; its depth in the middle is much more
than the heighth of a man; the bottom is sand, and gravel of the black
Haouran stone. It abounds with fish, particularly carp, and a species
called Emshatt [Arabic]. In summer time, after the harvests of the
Haouran have been gathered in, when the Aeneze approach the more
populous parts of the country, the borders of the lake are crowded every
evening with thousands of camels, belonging to these Arabs, who prefer
filling their water skins here, as they say that the water keeps better
than any other. The water of the springs is slightly tepid, and nearly
of the same temperature as that of the springs near Kalaat el Medyk, in
the valley of the Orontes. According to the Arabs the springs emit a
copious steam in the winter mornings. An ancient mill stands near one of
them, with a few broken stones around it; but it does not appear that
any village or city of note stood here, though the quantity of water
seems inviting to settlers. The springs as well as the lake are known by
the name of El Budje [Arabic].

The pilgrim caravan to Mekka collects at the Mezareib, where the Pasha,
or Emir el Hadj, remains encamped for ten days, in order to collect the
stragglers, and to pay to the different Arab tribes the accustomed
tribute for the passage of the caravan through the desert. The
warehouses of the castle are annually well stocked with wheat, barley,
biscuit, rice, tobacco, tent and horse equipage, camel saddles, ropes,
ammunition, &c. each of which has its particular warehouse. These stores
are exclusively for the Pasha's suite, and for the army which
accompanies the Hadj; and are chiefly consumed on their return. It is
only in cases of great abundance, and by particular favour, that the
Pasha permits any articles to be sold to the pilgrims. At every station,
as far as Medina, is a castle, but generally smaller than this, filled
with similar stores.

[p.243]The Haouran alone is required to deliver every year into the
store houses of the Mezareib, two thousand Gharara of barley, or about
twenty or twenty-five thousand cwt. English. The town of Damascus has
been fed for the last three months with the biscuit stored in the
Mezareib for the Hadj.

As far as the Pasha was concerned, the affairs of the great Caravan were
generally well managed; but there still reigned a great want of economy,
and the expenses of the Hadjis increased every year. Of late years, the
hire of a single camel from Damascus to Mekka has been seven hundred and
fifty piastres; as much, and often more, was to be paid on coming back;
and the expenses on the road, and at Mekka, amounted at least to one
thousand piastres, so that in the most humble way, the journey could not
be performed at less than two thousand five hundred piastres, or L125.
sterling. A camel with a litter cost fifteen hundred in going, and as
much in coming back. Of the whole caravan not above one-tenth part were
real pilgrims, the rest consisted of soldiers, the servants of soldiers,
people attached to the Pasha's suite, merchants, pedlars, camel-drivers,
coffee and pipe waiters, a swarm of Bedouins, together with several
tents of public women from Damascus, who were so far encouraged, that,
whenever they were unable to obtain from their lovers the daily food for
their horses or mules, they obtained a supply from the Pasha's stores.

The greater part of the pilgrims usually contract for the journey with
one of the great undertakers, or Mekouam [Arabic], as they are called;
this agreement is only for a beast of transport and for water; as to
eating, the pilgrims generally mess together at their own expense, in
bodies of about half a dozen. The Mekouam, on agreeing to furnish a
beast of burthen, are bound to replace whatever may die on the road, and
are therefore obliged to carry with them at least one unloaded camel for
every loaded one. It is a general

[p.244]practice with the Mekouam to obtain as large sums as possible on
account from the pilgrims who engage with them for the journey; they
generally agree among each other upon the sum to be demanded, as well as
the moment at which it is to be called for: so that if the pilgrims
resist the imposition, the Hadj sometimes remains encamped on the same
spot for several days, the Mekouam all refusing to proceed, and feeing
the Pasha for his connivance at their injustice. On their return to
Damascus, if they have already extorted from the pilgrims in the course
of the journey more than the amount of their contract, as often happens,
they generally declare themselves to be bankrupts, and then the value of
a few camels is all that remains to pay their debts to the pilgrims.

Those pilgrims who do not engage with the Mekouam, as is generally the
case with those who come from Armenia and the borders of the Black sea,
perform the journey somewhat cheaper upon their own beasts; but they are
ill-treated on the road by the Mekouam, are obliged to march the last in
the caravan, to encamp on the worst ground, to fill their water skins
the last, and are often even avanized by the Pasha. It is difficult to
conceive the wretched condition of the greater part of the Hadjis, and
the bad conduct of the troops and Arabs. Thieving and robbery have
become general among them, and it is more the want of sleep from fear of
being plundered, which causes the death of so many pilgrims, than the
fatigues of the journey. The Pasha's troops, particularly those called
Howara, which bring up the rear of the caravan, are frequently known to
kill the stragglers during the night, in order to strip them of their
property. The Pasha, it is true, often punishes such delinquents, and
scarcely a day passes without some one being empaled alive; the caravan
moves on, and the malefactor is left to be devoured by the birds of
prey. The Bedouins are particularly dexterous in pilfering; at night
they sometimes assume the

[p.245]dress of the Pasha's infantry, and thus introduce themselves
unnoticed amongst the camels of the rich Hadjis, when they throw the
sleeping owner from his mule or camel, and in the confusion occasioned
by the cries of the fallen rider, drive off the beast.

The caravan marches daily from Asser, or about three hours after mid-
day, during the whole of the night, and till the followingmorning, when
the tents are pitched. It never stops but during prayers. The Arabs of
Sokhne, Tedmor, and Haouran, together with the Bedouins who let out
their camels, precede or follow the caravan at the distance of one day's
march. They transport the provisions for the Pasha's troops, of which
they steal, and publicly sell at least two-thirds. They march during the
day, and encamp in the evening. Their caravan is called El Selma
[Arabic]. It passes the great caravan once every two or three days, and
then encamps till the latter comes up, when they supply the Pasha's
suite with provisions. The cheapest mode of performing the pilgrimage is
to agree for a camel with one of those Arabs; but the fatigue is much
greater in following the Selma.

The last year in which the Hadj quitted Damascus, the pilgrims reached
the gates of Medina, but they were not permitted to enter the town, nor
to proceed to Mekka; and after an unsuccessful negotiation of seven
days, they were obliged to return to Damascus. About two hundred Persian
Hadjis only, who were with the caravan, were allowed to pass on paying a
large sum of money. Ibn Saoud, the Wahabi chief, had one interview with
Abdullah Pasha, accompanied by the whole of his retinue, at Djebel
Arafat, near Mekka; they exchanged presents, and parted as friends.

Of the seven different pilgrim caravans which unite at Mekka, two only
bear the Mahmal, the Egyptian and Syrian; the latter is the first in
rank.

We left Mezareib towards the evening, and were obliged to proceed

EL TORRA.

[p. 246]alone along the Hadj route, the fear of the Aeneze rendering
every one unwilling to accompany us. In a quarter of an hour we came to
a bridge over the Wady Mezareib, called Djissr Kherreyan [Arabic]; to
the left, near the road, is the ruined village Kherbet el Ghazale
[Arabic], where the Hadj sometimes encamps. It often happens that the
caravan does not encamp upon the usual spots, owing to a wish either to
accelerate or to prolong the journey. Past the Akabe, near the head of
the Red Sea, beyond which the bones of dead camels are the only guides
of the pilgrim through the waste of sand, the caravan often loses its
way, and overshoots the day's station; in such cases the water-skins are
sometimes exhausted, and many pilgrims perish through fatigue and
thirst.

At one hour from the Mezareib, following the river that issues from the
small lake, are several mills: from thence, south-west, begins the
district called Ollad Erbed [Arabic]. Half an hour to the right, at some
distance from the road, is the village Tel el Shehab [Arabic]; forty
minutes, Wady Om El Dhan [Arabic], coming from the eastward, with a
bridge over it, built by Djezzar Pasha. In winter this generally proves
a very difficult passage to the Hadj, on account of the swampy ground,
and the peasants of the adjacent villages are, in consequence, obliged
to cover the road with a thick layer of straw. At one hour to the right
of the road is the village El Torra [Arabic], on the top of a low chain
of hills, forming a circle, through the centre of which lies the road.
Here, as in so many other parts of the Haouran, I saw the most luxuriant
wild herbage, through which my horse with difficulty made his way.
Artificial meadows can hardly be finer than these desert fields: and it
is this which renders the Haouran so favourite an abode of the Bedouins.
The peasants of Syria are ignorant of the advantages of feeding their
cattle with hay; they suffer the superfluous grass to wither away, and
in summer and winter feed them on cut straw. In one

REMTHA.

[p. 247]hour and a quarter we passed Wady Torra; our road lying S.S.E.
One hour and three quarters, we came to Wady Shelale [Arabic], a torrent
descending from the southern hills, and flowing in a deep bed, along
which the road continues for some time. In two hours and three quarters
quick walking, we came to Remtha [Arabic], a station of the Hadj; which
encamps near two Birkets or reservoirs formed in the bed of the Wady by
means of three high walls built across it. A large tribe of Aeneze were
watering their cattle as we passed. The surrounding country is hilly:
the village is built upon the summits of several hills, and contains
about one hundred families. In its neighbourhood are a number of wells
of fresh water. We met with a very indifferent reception at the Sheikh's
house, for the inhabitants of the villages on the Hadj route exceed all
others in fanatism: an old man was particularly severe in his
animadversions on Kafers treading the sacred earth which leads to the
Kaabe, and the youngsters echoed his insulting language. I found means,
however, to show the old man a penknife which I carried in my pocket,
and made him a present of it, before he could ask it of me; we then
became as great friends as we had been enemies, and his behaviour
induced a like change in the others towards me. A penknife worth two
shillings overcomes the fanatism of a peasant; increase the present and
it will have equal effect upon a townsman; make it a considerable sum,
and the Mufti himself will wave all religious scruples. Remtha is the
last inhabited village on this side of the Haoun: the greater part of
its houses are built against the caverns, with which this calcareous
country abounds; so that the rock forms the back of the house, while the
other sides are enclosed by a semicircular mud wall whose extremities
touch the rock.

May 1st.--From Remtha I wished to cross the mountains directly to
Djerash, which, I had reason to believe, was not more than seven

WADY WARRAN.

[p.248]or eight hours distant. It was with difficulty that I found a
guide, because I refused to be answerable for the value of the man's
horse and gun, in case we should be plundered by Arab robbers. A sum of
twelve piastres, however, at last tempted one of the Fellahs, and we
rode off late in the morning, our road lying toward the southern
mountains, in a direction S. by W. Remtha is on the boundary line of the
Haouran; which to the south-eastward runs by Om el Djemal and Szamma,
two ruined towns. The district bordering upon the Haouran in this part
is called Ezzoueit [Arabic], and stretches across the mountain nearly as
far as Djerash. To the E. of Remtha runs a chain of low hills, called
Ezzemle [Arabic], extending towards the S.E. nearly to Kalaat Mefrek, a
ruined castle situated on the eastern extremity of Djebel Zoueit. At one
hour and a quarter, brisk walking of our horses, we saw to the right, or
west, about one hour distant, the ruins of a town called Eszereikh
[Arabic], at the foot of Djebel Beni Obeyd. From thence the village of
Hossn bore W. by S. The Kalaat el Mefrek, or, as the Arabs call it, El
Ferka, lay in a S.E. direction, distant about three hours. About one
hour and a half distant, in a S.W. direction, is the ruined village of
Remeith [Arabic], with several large columns lying on the ground. At two
hours and a half from Remtha we passed a Tel, with the ruined village
Dehama [Arabic], on its top; near the foot-way lay several broken shafts
of columns. At three hours, on reaching the Wady Warran [Arabic], our
route began to ascend. The Wady, which descends from the mountain
Zoueit, was at this time dry. Three hours and a quarter brought us to
three fine Doric columns lying on the ground. We met several Arabs, but
they did not venture to attack three men armed with musquets, and gave
us a friendly Salam Aleykum. We now ascended the mountain, which is
calcareous with flint, in following the windings of the Wady. Wild
pistachio trees abound;

SOUF.

[p.249]higher up oaks become more frequent, and the forest thickens;
near the top, which we reached in five hours and a quarter from Remtha,
are some remains of the foundations of ancient buildings. The Djebel
Kafkafa [Arabic], as this summit is called, commands a beautiful view
over the plain of Djerash and the neighbouring mountains of Zerka and
Belka. The ruins of Djerash, which were distinctly seen, and the highest
points of Djebel Belka behind them, bore S.S.W.; the highest points of
Djebel Zerka S. The district of Zoueit terminates at Djebel Kafkafa; and
the country called El Moerad [Arabic], lying S.W. and W. commences: to
the S. the Zoueit runs parallel with the Moerad as far as Wady Zerka.

On gaining Djebel Kafkafa, our guide discovered that he had gone astray,
for it was not our intention, on setting out, to make directly for
Djerash, but to rest for the night in the village of Souf, and from
thence to visit the ruins on the following morning. We therefore turned
more to the westward on quitting the Djebel, and fell in with the road,
which continued through a thick wood, till we saw Souf, an hour and a
half distant before us, bearing W.S.W. At the end of seven hours and a
quarter from Remtha, we reached the spring of Souf, and allayed our
thirst, for we had been without water the whole day; there being very
few springs in the Djebel Zoueit; though it abounds in luxuriant
pasture, and is full of hares and partridges. In seven hours and a half
we reached the village of Souf [Arabic], where I alighted, at the house
of the Sheikh El Dendel, an honest and hospitable man.

Souf is situated on the declivity of the mountain, on the western side
of a Wady called El Deir, the stream of which, called also El Kerouan
[Arabic], is supplied from three copious springs that issue from under a
rock near the village, at a short distance from each

[p.250]other. They bear the names of Ain el Faouar [Arabic], Ain el
Meghaseb [Arabic], and Ain el Keykabe [Arabic], and with their united
waters the narrow plain of Djerash is irrigated. Souf is a village with
about forty families, whose principal riches are some olive plantations
on the sides of Wady Deir: it is the chief village in the country called
Moerad [Arabic], in which the following are also situated: Ettekitte
[Arabic], one hour distant from Djerash, and abandoned last year; Bourma
[Arabic]; Hamtha [Arabic]; Djezaze [Arabic]; and Debein [Arabic]. It is
customary in these mountains for every house to manufacture gunpowder as
well for its own consumption, as for sale to the neighbouring Arabs. In
every house which I entered I saw a large mortar, which was continually
in motion, even when a fire was kindled in the midst of the room: the
powder is formed of one part of sulphur, five and a half parts of
saltpetre, and one part of the charcoal of the poplar tree [Arabic]; it
is not very good, but serves very well the purposes of this people.

I passed a most unpleasant night here. It is the custom, for the sake of
saving lamp-oil, to light every evening a large fire, for the supply of
which, there is plenty of dry wood in the neighbouring mountain. The
room where I lodged was thus soon filled with smoke, which had no other
issue than a small door, and even this was shut to keep out the cattle.
The peasants seemed to delight in the heat thus occasioned; they took
off all their clothes except the Abba, and sat smoaking and laughing
till midnight; I wished to imitate them, but did not dare to strip, for
fear of shewing the leathern girdle containing my money, which I wore
under my clothes. Towards the morning the fire went out, and the company
was asleep: I then opened the door to let the smoke out, and slept a few
hours under the influence of the morning breeze.

[p.251]There is an ancient ruined square building at Souf, with several
broken columns. From one of them I copied the following inscription,
written in very small characters:

[Greek].

Upon a pillar near it is a fine inscription, but now quite illegible.

At the spring of Ayn Keykebe, which is covered by a small arched
building, I copied some characters from a broken stone lying in the
water; the following were the ending of the inscription:

[Greek].

Near the sources are numerous caverns, in which the poor families of
Souf reside.

May 2d.--Being impatient to reach Djerash, I left Souf early in the
morning, taking with me a guide, who was afterwards to have conducted me
towards Szalt, in the Djebel Belka. Our road lay along the mountain on
the west side of Wady Deir. On the E. side of the wady, half an hour
from Souf, is the ruined place called Kherbet Mekbela [Arabic]. Three
quarters of an hour from Souf, in our road, and just over the ruined
city of Djerash, are the ruins called Kherbet el Deir, with a Turkish
chapel named Mezar Abou Beker. Our road lay S.S.E. In one hour we
passed, n the declivity of the mountain, descending towards Djerash, a
place which I supposed to have been the burying place of

DJERASH.

[p.252]Djerash. I counted upwards of fifty sarcophagi, and there were
many more; they are formed of the calcareous stone with which the Zoueit
and Moerad mountains are composed. Some of them are sunk to a level with
the surface of the ground, which is very rocky; others appear to have
been removed from their original position. The largest was ten spans in
length, and three and a half in breadth; but the greater part are much
smaller, and are not even large enough to contain the corpse of a full
grown person. On the sides of a few of them are sculptured ornaments in
bas-relief, as festoons, genii, &c. but in a mutilated state, and not
remarkable for beauty of execution; I saw only one that was elegantly
wrought. The whole of these sarcophagi had flat covers, a few of which
still remain. Upon one of the largest of the sarcophagi, and which is
one of those first met with in going from Souf, is a long inscription,
but so mutilated as to be almost wholly illegible. In the neighbourhood
are several heaps of large square stones, the remains of some building.

In an hour and a half from Souf we reached the city walls of Djerash, or
Kerash, [Arabic], the Dj being the Bedouin pronunciation of the letter
[Arabic], which in the language of the city corresponds with our K.
Djerash was built upon an elevated plain in the mountains of Moerad, on
uneven ground, on both sides of Wady Deir, which, besides the name of
Kerouan [Arabic], bears also that of Seil Djerash [Arabic], or the river
of Djerash. This river empties itself, at a short distance from the
town, into the Wady Zerka [Arabic], probably the Jabock of the ancients.
The principal part of the city stands on the right bank of the river,
where the surface is more level than on the opposite side, although the
right bank is steeper than the other. The present ruins prove the
magnitude and importance of the ancient city; and the modern name leads
to the belief that it was the ancient Gerasa, one of the principal

DJERASH.

[p.253]towns of the Decapolis, although this position does not at all
agree with that given to Gerasa from the ancient authorities by
D'Anville, who places it to the north-east of the lake of Tiberias,
forty miles to the north-westward of this place. The ruins are nearly an
hour and a quarter in circumference, following insulated fragments of
the walls, which were upwards of eight feet in thickness, and built of
square hewn stones of middling size; I could not judge of their original
heighth, as the upper parts were every where demolished.

I shall now enumerate the principal curiosities of Djerash, agreeably to
the annexed plan, which may give a general idea of the whole; for its
accuracy in regard to distances I do not mean to vouch, as I had, at
most, only four hours to make my survey, and it was with great
difficulty that I could persuade my three companions to wait so long for
me. None of them would accompany me through the ruins, on account of
their fear of the Bedouins, who are in the habit of visiting this Wady,
they therefore concealed themselves beneath the trees that overshade the
river. The first object that strikes the attention in coming from Souf,
after passing the town-wall, is a temple (a). Its main body consists of
an oblong square, the interior of which is about twenty-five paces in
length, and eighteen in breadth. A double row, of six columns in each
row, adorned the front of the temple; of the first row five columns are
yet standing, of the second, four; and on each side of the temple there
remains one column belonging to the single row of pillars that
surrounded the temple on every side except the front. Of these eleven
columns nine are entire, and two are without capitals. Their style of
architecture is much superior to that of the great colonnade hereafter
to be mentioned, and seems to belong to the best period of the
Corinthian order, their capitals being beautifully ornamented with the
acanthus leaves. The shafts are composed of five or six pieces, and are
seven spans and a half in diameter,

[p.254]and thirty-five to forty feet in heighth. I was unable to
ascertain the number of columns in the flanks of the peristyle. The
temple stands upon an artificial terrace elevated five or six feet above
the ground. The interior of the temple is choaked with the ruins of the
roof; a part of the front wall of the cella has fallen down; but the
three other sides are entire. The walls are wthout ornament; on the
interior of each of the two side walls, and about mid-way from the
floor, are six niches, of an oblong shape, and quite plain: in the back
wall, opposite to the door, is a vaulted recess, with a small dark
chamber on each side. The upper part of a niche is visible on the
exterior of the remains of the front wall, with some trifling but
elegantly sculptured ornaments. This ruin stands within a peribolus or
large area surrounded by a double row of columns. The whole edifice
seems to have been superior in taste and magnificence to every public
building of this kind in Syria, the temple of the Sun at Palmyra
excepted. On the two sides marked (x) of the colonnade of the peribolus
many bases and broken shafts of the inner row of columns are yet
standing; on the two other sides there are but few; these columns are
three spans and a half in diameter. On the long side (x) forty columns
may be traced to have stood, at only three paces distant from each
other; on the opposite long side one perfect column is yet standing; on
the short side (x) are three in the outer row without their capitals.
The corner columns of this peribolus were double, and in the shape of a
heart, as in the annexed figure. Of the outer row of the peribolus very
little remains; indeed it may be doubted whether any outer row ever
existed opposite to the back of the temple, where the ground is rocky
and uneven. The number of columns which originally adorned the temple
and its area was not less than two hundred or two hundred and fifty.

Proceeding westwards from the above described ruin, through

[p.255]the remains of private habitations, at about two hundred yards
distant from it are the remains of a small temple (b), with three
Corinthian pillars still standing. A street, still paved in some places,
leads from thence south-westwards, to a spot where several small broken
columns are lying. Turning from thence to the south-east, I entered a
street (c) adorned with a colonnade on either side; about thirty broken
shafts are yet standing, and two entire columns, but without their
capitals. On the other side of the street, opposite to them, are five
columns, with their capitals and entablatures. These columns are rather
small, without pedestals, of different sizes, the highest being about
fifteen feet, and in a bad taste.

Originally there must have been about fifty pillars in this street; a
little farther on to the south-east this street crosses the principal
street of the town; and where the two streets meet, are four large
cubical masses of stone (d), each occupying one of the angles of the
intersection, similar to those which I saw at Shohba, and intended,
perhaps, to imitate the beautiful pedestals in the middle of the great
portico at Palmyra. These cubes are about seven feet high, and about
eighteen spans broad; on each side of them is a small niche; three are
entire, and the fourth is in ruins. They may have served as pedestals
for statues, or, like those at Palmyra, may have supported a small dome
upon columns, under which stood a statue. I endeavoured to examine the
tops of the cubes, but they are all thickly overgrown with shrubs, which
it was not in my power to clear away. There were no traces whatever of
statues having stood upon those which I saw at Shohba.

Following the great street, marked (e), south-westwards, I came again to
the remains of columns on both sides: these were much larger than the
former, and the street, of which some parts of the pavement yet remain,
was much broader than that marked (c). On the right hand side of the
street stand seventeen Corinthian

[p.256]columns, sixteen of which are united by their entablature; they
vary in size, and do not correspond in height either with those
opposite, to them or with those in the same line; a circumstance which,
added to the style of the capitals, seems to prove that the long street
is a patch-work, built at different periods, and of less ancient
construction than the temple. Some of the columns are as high as thirty
feet, others twenty-five; the shortest I estimated at twenty feet. Their
entablatures are slightly ornamented with sculptured bas-reliefs. Where
a high column stands near a shorter one the architrave over the latter
reposes upon a projecting bracket worked into the shaft of the higher
one. Next comes, following the street in the same S.W. direction, on the
right, one insulated column; and three large columns with their
entablature, joined to four shorter ones, in the way just described;
then two columns, and five, and two, all with their entablatures;
making, in the whole, on the right side of the street, counting from the
cubes, thirty-four columns, yet standing. On the left, opposite the
three large ones joined to the four smaller, are five columns of
middling size, with their entablatures, and a single large one; but the
greater number of the columns on this side have fallen, and are lying on
the ground. In some places behind the colonnade on the right, are low
apartments, some of which are vaulted, and appear to have been shops.
They are similar to those which I saw in the long street at Soueida, in
the mountain of the Druses.[See page 81.]

The long street just described terminates in a large open space (f)
enclosed by a magnificent semicircle of columns in a single row; fifty-
seven columns are yet standing; originally there may have been about
eighty. To the right, on entering the forum, are four, and then twenty-
one, united by their entablatures. To the

[p.257]left, five, seven, and twenty, also with entablatures; the latter
twenty are taller than the others, the lower ground on which they stand
having required an increased height of column in order to place the
whole entablature of the semicircle on the same level. The pillars near
the entrance are about fifteen feet in height, and one foot and a half
in diameter: they are all of the Ionic order, and thus they differ from
all the other columns remaining in the city. The radius of the
semicircle, in following the direction of the long street, was one
hundred and five paces.

At the end of the semicircle, opposite to the long street, are several
basins, which seem to have been reservoirs of water, and remains of an
aqueduct are still visible, which probably supplied them. To the right
and left are some low arched chambers. From this spot the ground rises,
and on mounting a low but steep hill before me, I found on its top the
remains of a beautiful temple (g), commanding a view over the greater
part of the town. The front of the temple does not stand directly
opposite to the long street and the forum, but declines somewhat to the
northward. Like the temple first described, it was adorned with a
Corinthian peristyle, of which one column only remains, at the south
angle. In front was a double row of columns, with eight, as I
conjecture, in each row. They seem to have been thrown down by an
earthquake, and many of them are now lying on the declivity of the hill,
in the same order in which they originally stood. They are six spans and
a half in diameter, and their capitals appeared to me of a still finer
execution than those of the great temple. I am unable to judge of the
number of columns on the long sides of the peristyle: their broken
shafts lie about in immense heaps. On every side of the temple except
the front, there appears to have been a large ditch round the temple. Of
the cella the walls only remain, the roof, entrance, and back wall
having

[p.258]fallen down. The interior of the cella is thirty paces in length,
and twenty-four in breadth; the walls within are in a better state than
those of the temple (a), which are much impaired. On the outside of each
of the two long walls, was a row of six niches, similar to those within
the temple (a).

On entering the temple by the front door, I found on the right a side
door, leading towards a large theatre (h), on the side of the hill, and
at about sixty paces distant from the temple. It fronts the town, so
that the spectators seated upon the highest row of benches, enjoyed the
prospect of all its principal buildings and quarters. There are twenty-
eight rows of seats, upwards of two feet in breadth: between the
sixteenth and seventeenth rows, reckoning from the top, a tier of eight
boxes or small apartments intervenes, each separated from the other by a
thick wall. The uppermost row of benches is about one hundred and twenty
paces in circuit. In three different places are small narrow staircases
opening into the rows, to facilitate the ingress or egress of the
spectators. In front, the theatre is closed by a proscenium or wall,
about forty paces in length, embellished within by five richly decorated
niches, connected with each other by a line of middling sized columns;
of which two remain with their entablatures, and six without their
capitals. Within these was another parallel range of columns, of which
five are yet standing, with their entablatures. The entrance to the
theatre, was by steps between the two ends of the proscenium and the two
extremities of the semicircle. Near the proscenium the steps on both
sides are ruined, but in the other parts they are perfect. The town wall
runs very near the back of the theatre.

On this side of the town there are no other ruins of any consequence,
excepting the south-west gate, which is about five minutes walk from the
semicircle of columns: it is a fine arch, and, apparently,

[p.259] in perfect preservation, with a smaller one on each side adorned
with several pilasters. I did not examine it closely; meaning to return
to it in taking a review of what I had already seen, but my guides were
so tired with waiting, that they positively refused to expose their
persons longer to danger, and walked off, leaving me the alternative of
remaining alone in this desolate spot, or of abandoning the hope of
correcting my notes by a second examination of the ruins.

Returning from the theatre, through the long street, towards the four
cubic pedestals, I continued from thence in a straight line along the
main street (l), the pavement of which is preserved in several places.
On the right hand, were first seven columns, having their entablatures;
and farther on, to the left, seven others, also with their entablatures;
then, on the right, three large columns without entablatures, but with
pedestals, which none of those already mentioned have; opposite to the
latter, on the left hand side of the street, are two insulated columns.
The three large columns are equal in size to those of the peristyle of
the temple (a); they stand in the same line with the colonnade of the
street, and belonged to a small building (m), of the body of which
nothing remains except the circular back wall, containing several
niches, almost in complete ruins. On a broken pedestal lying on the
ground between two of the columns of this building, is the following
inscription:

[Greek].

There is another stone with an inscription upon it; but I could make
nothing of it. The street is here choaked up with fragments of columns.
Close to the three columns stands a single one, and

[p.260] at a short distance further, to the left, is a large gateway
(n), leading up to the temple (a), which is situated on considerably
higher ground, and is not visible from the street. On either side of the
gateway are niches; and a wall, built of middling sized square stones,
which runs for some distance, parallel with the street. Among a heap of
stones lying under the gate I copied the following inscriptions:

From a broken stone:

[Greek].

The letters of the word OPNHA are five inches in length.

Upon another broken stone near it was this:

[Greek].

And close to the latter, upon the edge of a large stone, this:

[Greek].

Continuing along the main street, I came at (q), to a single column, and
then to two with entablatures, on the right; opposite to them, on the
left, are three single columns. Beyond the latter, for one hundred
paces, all the columns have fallen; I then came to an open rotunda (r),
with four entrances; around the inside of its wall are projecting
pedestals for statues; the entraces on the right

[p.261]and left, conduct into a street running at right angles to the
main street. I followed this cross street to my left, and found on the
right hand side of it three short Ionic pillars with their entablatures,
close to the rotunda. Proceeding in the same direction I soon reached a
quadrangle (s) of fine large Corinthian columns, the handsomest in the
town, next to those of the temple. To the right stand four with their
entablatures, and one single; formerly they were six in number, the
fifth is the deficient one: the first and sixth are heart-shaped, like
those in the area of the temple (a.) They are composed of more than a
dozen frusta, and what is remarkable in a place where stone is so
abundant, each frustum consists of two pieces; opposite to the two first
columns of the row just described are two columns with their
entablatures.

This colonnade stands in front of a theatre (t), to which it evidently
formed an appendage. This theatre is not calculated to hold so many
spectators as the one already described though its area is considerably
larger, being from forty-five to fifty paces in diameter. It has sixteen
rows of benches, with a tier of six boxes intervening between the tenth
and eleventh rows, reckoning from the top. Between every two boxes is a
niche, forming a very elegant ornament. This theatre was evidently
destined for purposes different from the other, probably for combats of
wild beasts, &c.; The area below the benches is more extensive, and
there is a suite of dark arched chambers under the lowest row of seats,
opening into the area near the chief entrance of the theatre, which is
from the south-east, in the direction by which I entered the colonnade
in front of the theatre. There seems formerly to have been a wall across
the diameter of the semi-circle, and between this wall and the colonnade
there is on both sides a short wall, with a large niche or apartment in
it; the colonnade stands upon lower ground than the theatre. Having
returned from hence to the rotunda in

[p.262]the long street, I followed it along the colonnade (v) and found
the greater number of the columns to have Ionic capitals. On the right
side are only two small columns, with their entablatures; to the left,
are eight, two, three, two, four, and again three, each set with their
entablatures; close to the ruined town-gate (w), near the bank of the
river, is a single column.

I shall now describe the ancient buildings, which I observed on the
south-west side of the long street. The street which leads from the
theatre across the rotunda (r) is prolonged from thence towards the side
of the river: it was lined with columns, of which two only, with their
entablatures, remain, and it terminates at a vast edifice (u), situated
over the river, and extending along its banks forty or fifty paces; it
is divided into many apartments, the greater part of which have arched
roofs; some of them are very lofty.

I now returned towards the gateway (n), and found, opposite to it, and
to the great temple (a), a second cross street running towards the
river; it had originally a colonnade, but none of the columns are now
standing; it terminates, at about thirty paces from the main street, in
a gate, through which I entered into a long quadrangle of columns,
where, on the right hand, four, and then three columns, with their
entablatures, are still standing. At the end of this place, are the
remains of a circular building fronting a bridge (p) across the river:
this bridge is of steep ascent, owing to the northern banks being
considerably higher than the southern, and it is no longer passable.

Having returned to the four cubical pedestals (d), I followed to the
left the continuation of the street (c), by which I had first approached
those pedestals, and which having crossed the main street at the
pedestals, leads south-westward to the river, where it terminated at a
broad flight of steps, leading down to the bridge (k); of the colonnade
of this street (i), some broken shafts

[p.263]only are standing. The bridge is fourteen feet wide, with a high
centre arch and two lower ones; it is built with great solidity, and its
pavement is exactly of the same construction as that which I observed in
the streets of Shohba;[See page 70.] its centre is broken down. An
aqueduct is traced from the side of the building (u), passing near the
two bridges, towards the southern gate of the town. Such weremy
observations of the ruins on the right bank of the Wady.

On the left bank little else remains than heaps of ruins of private
habitations, and numerous fragments of columns. I must confess, however,
that I did not examine the part of the town towards the south gate; but
I have reason to believe, from the view which I had of it while on the
temple hill, that nothing of consequence, either as to buildings or
columns, is there to be met with. The only buildings which I observed to
the left of the river are near to it, upon a narrow plain which
stretches along its banks. Nearly opposite to the temple (m), are the
remains of a building (y) similar in construction to that marked (u), on
the right bank. I supposed it to be a bath; a stream of water descends
from a spring in the mountain, and after flowing through this division
of the town, passes this building, and empties itself into the river.
The arched rooms of the building (y) are loftier than those in (u). Near
the former stand four columns; two insulated, and two with entablatures;
also two broken shafts, the only fluted ones that I saw in the city. On
the left bank of the river, nearly opposite to the town-gate (w), is a
ruined building (x), which appears to have been a small temple; a single
column is standing amidst a heap of broken ones.

Between this spot and the building (y) are the remains of an aqueduct.

Besides the one hundred and ninety columns, or thereabouts,

[p.264]which I have enumerated in the above description, there are
upwards of one hundred half columns also standing. I did not see any
marks of the frusta of the columns having been joined by iron hooks, as
at Palmyra. Of the private habitations of the city there is none in a
state of preservation, but the whole of the area within the walls is
covered with their ruins.

The stone with which Djerash is built is calcareous, of considerable
hardness, and the same as the rock of the neighbouring mountains; I did
not observe any other stone to have been employed, and it is matter of
surprise that no granite columns should be found here, as they abound in
Syrian cities of much less note and magnificence than Djerash.

It had been my intention to proceed from Djerash to the village of
Djezaze, in my way to the castle of Szalt in the mountains of Belka,
from whence I hoped to be able to visit Amman. After many fruitless
enquiries for a guide, a man of Souf at last offered to conduct me to
Szalt, and he had accompanied us as far as Djerash; but when, after
having surveyed the ruins, I rejoined my companions, he had changed his
mind, and insisted on returning immediately to Souf; this was occasioned
by his fear of the Arabs Beni Szakher, who had for sometime past been at
war with the Arabs of Djebel Belka and the government of Damascus, and
who were now extending their plundering incursions all over the
mountain. The name of the Beni Szakher is generally dreaded in these
parts; and the greater or less facility with which the traveller can
visit them, depends entirely upon the good or bad terms existing between
those Arabs and the Pasha; if they are friends, one of the tribe may
easily be found to serve as a guide; but when they are enemies, the
traveller is exposed to the danger of being stripped; and, if the
animosity of the two parties is very great, of even being murdered. The
Mutsellim of Damascus had given me letters to the chief of the

AATYL.

[p.265]Arabs El Belka, and to the commander of the Pasha's cavalry, who
had been sent to assist them against the Beni Szakher. The allies were
encamped in the neighbourhood of Kalaat el Zerka, while the Beni Szakher
had collected their forces at Amman itself, a place still famous for the
abundance of its waters. Under these circumstances, I determined to
proceed first to Szalt, hoping that I might from thence attain Amman
more easily, as the inhabitants of Szalt, who are always more or less
rebellious towards the government of Damascus, are generally on friendly
terms with the Bedouins. The fears of my guide, however, prevented me
from executing this plan, and I was most reluctantly obliged to return
to Souf, for it would have been madness to proceed alone.

We returned to Souf, not by the road over the mountain, but in following
the course of the rivulet in the valley El Deir, which we reascended up
to the village; we found the greater part of the narrow plain in the
valley sown with wheat and barley by the people of Souf. Half an hour
from the town, in the Wady, are the remains of a large reservoir for
water, with some ruined buildings near it. This is a most romantic spot;
large oak and walnut trees overshade the stream, which higher up flows
over a rocky bed; nearer the village are some olive plantations in the
Wady. We reached Souf in two hours from Djerash. I enquired in vain for
a guide to Szalt; the return of the man who had engaged to conduct me
made the others equally cautious, and nobody would accept of the fifteen
piastres which I offered. I thought in unnecessary, therefore, to stop
any longer at Souf, and left it the same evening, in order to visit
Djebel Adjeloun. Our road lay W.N.W. up a mountain, through a thick
forest of oak trees. In three quarters of an hour from Souf we reached
the summit of the mountain, which forms the frontier between the
district of Moerad and the Djebel Adjeloun. This is the thickest forest
I had yet seen in

RABBAD.

[p.266]Syria, where the term forest ([Arabic] or [Arabic]) is often
applied to places in which the trees grow at twenty paces from each
other. In an hour and a half we came to the village Ain Djenne [Arabic],
in a fertile valley called Wady Djenne, at the extremity of which
several springs issue from under the rock.

May 3d.--There are several christian families at Ain Djenne. In the
neighbouring mountain are numerous caverns; and distant half an hour, is
the ruined village of Mar Elias. When enquiring for ruins, which might
answer to those of Capitolias, I had been referred to this place, no
person in these mountains having knowledge of any other ruins. An olive
plantation furnishes the principal means of subsistence to the eighty
families who inhabit the village of Ain Djenne.

We set out early in the morning, and descended the valley towards
Adjeloun [Arabic], which has given its name to the district: it is built
in a narrow passage on both sides of the rivulet of Djenne, and contains
nothing remarkable except a fine ancient mosque. I left my horse here,
and took a man of the village to accompany me to the castle of Rabbad
[Arabic], which stands on the top of a mountain three quarters of an
hour distant from Adjeloun. To the left of the road, at a short
distance, is the village Kefrandjy. From Ain Djenne Kalaat el Rabbad
bears W. by N.; it is the residence of the chief of the district of
Adjeloun. The house of Barekat, in whom this authority has for many
years resided, had lately been quarrelling about it among themselves;
the chief, Youssef el Barekat, had been besieged for several months in
the castle; he was now gone to the Aga of Tabaria, to engage him in his
interests; and his family were left in the castle with strict orders not
to let any unknown persons enter it, and to keep the gate secured. I had
letters of recommendation to Youssef from the Mutsellim of Damascus;
when I arrived at the castle-gate, all the inhabitants

OBEID.

[p.267]assembled upon the wall, to enquire who I was, and what I wanted.
I explained to them the nature of my visit, and shewed them the
Mutsellim's letter, upon which they opened the iron gate, but continued
to entertain great suspicions of me until a man who could read having
been sent for, my letter was read aloud; all the family then vied in
civilities towards me, especially when I told them that I intended to
proceed to Tabaria.

Kalaat Er-Rabbad is very strong, and, as appears from several Arabic
inscriptions, was built by Sultan Szelah-eddyn [Arabic]; its date is,
therefore, that of the Crusades, and the same as that of many castles in
other parts of Syria, which owe their origin to the vigilance, and
prudence of that monarch; I saw nothing particularly worth not